Keosauqua in competition for Main Street Iowa

Keosauqua is one of five Iowa communities competing for four slots to become a Main Street Iowa Community.

Competing with Keosauqua for the four Main Street Iowa Community slots are Jefferson, Marion, Lansing and Chariton, according to Terry Poe Buschkamp, urban district consultant with Main Street Iowa.

A town hall meeting, with a question and answer session, Nov. 22 at the Roberts Center was attended by more than 100 people, including Iowa Main Street coordinator Thom Guzman.

According to Katie Nichols, one of the local organizers, Keosauqua Main Street had $17,500 in pledges in just the first week alone. She was confident the community could garner the required $30,000. Pledge cards were handed out at the meeting and were due Thursday.

The Van Buren County Board of Supervisors has approved a motion supporting Keosauqua?s application.

The mission of Main Street Iowa is to improve the social and economic well being of Iowa?s communities by assisting selected communities to capitalize on the unique identity, assets and character of their historic commercial district. Main Street is economic development within the context of historic preservation.

If chosen, Keosauqua would be the second Main Street Iowa Community in Van Buren County. Bonaparte was named the smallest Main Street Community in the United States and winner of the ?Great American Main Street Award.?

The Main Street Four Point Approach was conceived in 1977 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C., and tested in three pilot locations throughout the United States. In 1985, the Iowa Legislature adopted the National Main Street Center?s approach to historic commercial district revitalization by approving the establishment of Main Street Iowa within the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

?Main Street Iowa works with 45 designated communities, using the four-point approach,? said Buschkamp. ?Over the past 25 years, we?ve seen a tremendous amount of progress in the Main Street Communities. We don?t come to the communities with a suitcase full of money, but what we do is teach empowerment and that their future belongs to them. Main Street Iowa isn?t a hand-out, but a hand up.?

According to Buschkamp, the town hall meeting is just one step in the process of being selected.

?What Keosauqua will do after this meeting is visit at least five other Main Street Communities and ask them the hard questions,? she said.

Keosauqua?s application is due Monday.

?Multiple people need to work on filling out the application,? Buschkamp said.

The application must show evidence of funding, either by pledges or cash on hand, along with in-kind support.

It also must define the physical boundaries for the proposed district.

Organizers will then go to Des Moines to make a 30-minute presentation to the Iowa Main Street Iowa Advisory Committee Jan. 10.

?Towns that have Main Street Communities form a non-profit board, a board of directors and hire a director. They need to have evidence of funding for three years,? Buschkamp said. ?There needs to be cooperation shown between organizations and a signed letter of intent to hire staff. It?s a lot of hard work.?

Keosauqua business leaders stressed the importance of supporting local businesses.

According to Main Street Iowa, for every dollar appropriated to the Main Street Iowa program in 2009, there was a private investment of more than $64.

Buschkamp summarized Main Street?s four-point approach:

Economic Restructuring/Business Improvement ? Involves diversifying the commercial district economy by identifying potential market niches, finding new uses for vacant or underused spaces and improving business practices.

Design ? Utilizing appropriate design concepts, the visual quality of the commercial district, including buildings, signs, window displays, landscaping and environment, is enhanced.

Organization ? Each community has many groups of people who are interested in and are willing to work toward the goal of a revitalized commercial district. The organizational element brings together the public sector, private groups and individual citizens, with coordination by a paid program manager, to work more effectively in the commercial district.

Promotion ? By promoting the downtown in a positive manner, a community can begin to focus on the commercial district as a source of community pride, social activity and economic development potential.

In the first three years of a local Main Street program, the state of Iowa invests approximately $100,000 in on-site visits, training and technical assistance.

?We have two design consultants and two business consultants that assist the communities, along with other specialists that help in organization and promotion,? Buschkamp said.

Main Street Iowa has had seven ?Great American Main Street Award? winners? in addition to Bonaparte: Dubuque, Corning, Keokuk, Burlington, Cedar Falls and Elkader.

?Iowa is recognized as a leader in the Main Street movement,? said Buschkamp, who has been with Main Street Iowa for more than 20 years.

If approved, services to the community will begin in February.