Marion May Become an Iowa Main Street

When you Google search "Center City Iowa," the page devoted to the city's main street is five results higher than the city's website.

That's because the revitalization of the once dead Central City downtown district — as illustrated on the website — may be the biggest thing to happen to this small town.

Central City benefited from a Main Street Iowa designation, a program from the National Trust for Historic Preservation — one that City of Marion is currently seeking.

"(Downtown) was pretty dead," said Central City City Administrator LaNeil McFadden. "We had nothing down there. Now businesspeople are complaining about having not enough parking."

Jill Ackerman, president of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, said it is best to think of the program as combining economic development with historic preservation. That means cooperating with business owners and city officials to revamp the downtown area and attract new businesses while keeping the downtown district's historic theme.

The Main Street Iowa program works by setting up an organization with the sole purpose of preserving and improving the downtown district. The organization is required to hire one paid staff director in addition to volunteers from the community, business community and local government. After getting the designation, Marion could have access to designers and architects on the Main Street Iowa staff.

But that's not all.

The designation itself carries eligibility for different grants and loan programs, said McFadden. Beyond the eligibility of certain grants, it also serves to beef up Marion's resume when the city applies for future grants.

Beyond that, gaining the designation brings attention to the town and its businesses, which not only helps business, but attracts more.

She said a strong base of volunteers fuels the program, as the core concept of the program is allowing the community to rebuild itself.

Ackerman said with the participation of Imagine 8 and the Marion Chamber of Commerce, they already have a significant amount of volunteers. She added that once they find out if they've won the designation this February, they will be looking for additional volunteers for a variety of purposes.

"It could be things that just needed another coat of paint, or it could be helping with an event downtown," she said.

For now, she said she thinks Marion's application looks rosy. With the work slated for the central corridor plan, the Marion Uptown Streetscape Project and Marion's Iowa Great Places deisgnation, Ackerman said Marion is very competitive.

With the reputation of Main Street Iowa, Ackerman said this could be very good news for Marion.

"It has been tried and true," she said. "If you a re a main street community, you really have your act together."