Rome's Downtown Development Authority accredited as National Main Street Program

Media release: The City of Rome Downtown Development Authority has been designated as an accredited National Main Street Program for meeting the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center®.　Each year, the National Trust and its partners announce the list of accredited Main Street® programs that have built strong revitalization organizations and demonstrate their ability in using the Main Street Four-Point Approach® methodology for strengthening their local economy and protecting their historic buildings.　

"We congratulate this year's nationally accredited Main Street programs for meeting our established performance standards," says Doug Loescher, director of the National Trust Main Street Center. "Accredited Main Street programs are meeting the challenges of the recession head on and are successfully using a focused, comprehensive revitalization strategy to keep their communities vibrant and sustainable." 　

The organization's performance is annually evaluated by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs which works in partnership with the National Trust Main Street Center to identify the local programs that meet 10 performance standards. These standards set the benchmarks for measuring an individual Main Street program's application of the Main Street Four-Point Approach® to commercial district revitalization. Evaluation criteria determines the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as developing a mission, fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking economic progress, and preserving historic buildings. For more information on the national program accreditation program, visit http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/about-main-street/the-programs/national-programs.html.

Rome received designation as a Main Street City in 1981 and so began the process of downtown revitalization. At that time downtown had a vacancy rate of approximately 26 percent. Major department stores had left downtown for the new mall. Today, downtown boost an occupancy rate of 94% and a thriving economically viable city center that includes apartments, a hotel, restaurants, historic landmarks and a supportive City and County Government. In 2003, Rome was named a National Great American Main Street City; one of only two in Georgia.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit organization, works to save America's historic places to enrich our future. www.PreservationNation.org.

Established in 1980, the National Trust Main Street Center® helps communities of all sizes revitalize their older and historic commercial districts. Working in more than 2,200 downtowns and urban neighborhoods over the last 30 years, the Main Street program has leveraged more than $53.6 billion in new public and private investment.　 Participating communities have created 448,835 net new jobs and 104,961 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 229,164 buildings, leveraging an average of $18 in new investment for every dollar spent on their Main Street district revitalization efforts.