MONROEVILLE MAIN STREET ANNOUNCED AS 2024 GREAT AMERICAN MAIN STREET AWARD SEMIFINALIST
One of Eight Organizations Recognized for Outstanding Downtown Revitalization Efforts
Monroeville, AL (September 26, 2023) – Main Street America has announced Monroeville Main Street as a 2024 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) Semifinalist. This prestigious award is the nation’s top award recognizing communities for their excellence in comprehensive preservation-based commercial district revitalization. A jury of professionals and leaders in the fields of community and economic development and historic preservation convened to review a nationwide pool of applicants. After thoughtful deliberation, the jury unanimously selected eight semifinalists that demonstrate exemplary use of the Main Street Approach™ to lead community-based transformation strategies in their downtowns.
The 2024 GAMSA Semifinalists are:
Downtown Camas Association - Camas, Washington
Denison Main Street - Denison, Texas
Downtown Lansing, Inc. - Lansing, Michigan
NewTown Macon - Macon, Georgia
Madison Main Street Program - Madison, Indiana
Monroeville Main Street - Monroeville, Alabama
Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group - Mount Vernon, Iowa
Swiss Bear, Inc. - New Bern, North Carolina
“The Great American Main Street Award is the highest honor that we grant to organizations within our network,” said Matt Wagner, Chief Program Officer at Main Street America. “We are elated to recognize Monroeville Main Street and seven peer organizations as 2024 GAMSA Semifinalists for their incredible accomplishments in transforming their downtowns through innovative programs strategically designed to preserve their unique heritage, foster economic vitality, and create a welcoming atmosphere.”
From neighborhood commercial corridors within larger cities to small towns with traditional downtowns, the 2024 GAMSA Semifinalists represent the diversity of the Main Street America network and the power of the Main Street Approach™. Semifinalists have generated over $1.48 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 881 net new businesses, facilitated the creation of 3,827 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 2,164 historic buildings, and leveraged 306,986 volunteer hours.
“We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Monroeville Main Street the past several years – they are always prepared, always excited and always willing to reach for new goals! They have not slowed down a bit from the day they were announced as a newly designated Main Street program to being recognized as one of the best Main Street programs in the country. We are very proud of them.”
Mary Helmer Wirth, President & State Coordinator
Main Street Alabama
The 2024 Great American Main Street Award winners will be announced at the opening plenary of the 2024 Main Street Now Conference in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 6, 2024.
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ABOUT MONROEVILLMAIN STREET
The Monroeville Main Street program was established as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit corporation in 2014. Prior to its creation, the Downtown Redevelopment Authority, the Historic Preservation Committee, the Chamber of Commerce, the Tourism Board, and other groups worked independently to revitalize downtown. Now, Monroeville Main Street is the hub linking those groups and other partnerships together as part of a sustainable, cohesive, progressive plan. We are one of only 33 communities selected to participate in the statewide coordinating program Main Street Alabama.
ABOUT THE GREAT AMERICAN MAIN STREET AWARDS
The Great American Main Street Award program recognizes communities exemplifying the use of the Main Street Approach™ to revitalize commercial districts. Winners are selected from a nationwide pool of applicants by a jury of Main Street professionals and leaders in the fields of community and economic development and historic preservation. Since the award’s inception in 1995, over 100 Main Street programs have been honored as GAMSA communities. For more information, visit mainstreet.org.
ABOUT MAIN STREET AMERICA
Main Street America leads a movement committed to strengthening communities through preservation-based economic development in older and historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. For more than 40 years, Main Street America has provided a practical, adaptable, and impactful framework for community-driven, comprehensive revitalization through the Main Street Approach™. Our network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Main Street America is a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit mainstreet.org.