Discover Downtown Washington named host of Main Street training program

Mike Grant, Washington Times-Herald, Ind.
Updated ·5 min read

Apr. 17—In February, Discover Downtown Washington was added to the list of participating agencies in OCRA's Main Street program. Now, the fledgling organization has been picked as one of the hosts of the Main Street training sites. The programs called Main Street 101 will be held at seven locations around the state including the Indiana Theater on Main Street in Washington on May 25.

"OCRA hosts these conferences a couple of times a year around the state. They reached out to us to see if we would be interested in hosting one and it just so happened, we have the space," said President of Discover Downtown Washington Dusty Davis, who with his partners own and now operates the theater. "We are happy to use the theater and bring them in and host their meeting."

Davis and his group are in the midst of a reopening of the theater after taking over operations last week. They are conducting some upgrades to the building and says the transition is going well.

"We are in there making some adjustments and we will still be doing some renovations in the coming week. We are still actively working on it. We had a great turn-out over the weekend for our reopening. The community really came out and supported us," he said. "We should have all of the work on the main level complete by the time the Main Street representatives arrive. It's great to see. We are treating it like it is the community's theater. It is good to get it polished back up and have a great atmosphere and have the community support it."

The Main Street 101 sessions provide details on the state's Main Street program. During the sessions those attending will learn, not only about the program, but how to apply to become a member. Local leaders say they want to use the time with community leaders from around the state to feature some of the activity in downtown.

"There is some good forward movement downtown and that is exciting," said Cindy Barber, Purdue Extension Community Development Educator and member of the Discover Downtown board. "I think the new Discover Downtown Washington board was intentional in getting out as quickly as we could the façade improvement grant to provide extra help to let people make improvements to their storefronts that they might not have been able to afford it. The board did that to beautify downtown and support the property owners and merchants downtown. The rest of it. We are following guidelines that have been laid out by the state that gives us a framework to move things forward. The Commons is kind of a bonus. It will be beautiful when it is all done."

"I believe they reached out to us because they see that we are an active downtown group with a lot of things going on. We may be newly formed but we have hit some of the milestones already they are looking for. I think this will help showcase downtown Washington," said Davis, who noted downtown has initiated the façade program, preparing for a new mural, is in the beginning stages of restoring the former Oddfellows lodge, and starting the Commons project. "OCRA has awarded us two grants and appointed us as a downtown affiliate. They are seeing the Commons project which is multiple people across the board working together so there is a lot of stuff happening downtown. Besides the grants and private investment, we are seeing a lot of work happening downtown."

When Discover Downtown Washington was formed, one of the key components was trying to get more people to visit the Main Street area and pay attention to it. By hosting the Main Street event the group is accomplishing that goal.

"It feels like we are starting to hit our stride. Most of the southern Indiana Main Street organizations are invited to this so we could see a large number of representatives from around the state," said Davis. "We're excited. We are seeing more momentum downtown in the past year or two than the previous 10 years. That is exciting to see. You can feel the community coming together."

"The wins we are getting along the way like the mural grant for building across from the gazebo. That is going to be beautiful. It is also an intentional act to provide something the people of Washington can be proud of. The letters will contain images of the community that people are familiar with," said Barber. "We are always looking for volunteers to serve on the committees and our board. People can go to the website (Discoverdowntownwashington.com) to sign in and share their time, talent and treasures with us."

Discover Downtown Washington leaders are describing the work toward improving the area as a beginning and one full of successes they are willing to share with neighboring communities.

"We have also submitted a grant application to the community foundation to fund a downtown revitalization plan. We are thinking long term on ways we can make downtown better. There is more to come. That is for sure," said Barber. "If there are other cities or towns in Daviess County that want to get involved with Indiana Main Street, Discover Downtown Washington is glad to work with them. We are eager to help our neighbors in other parts of the county to be able to do some of the things we are seeing in Washington."