Hampton Main Street officials welcomed representatives from Main Street America Wednesday (Aug. 13) for its biennial accreditation review. Program officials met with community volunteers, the Chamber/Main Street Executive Board, and committees and also took a walking tour of key landmarks. Some of those landmarks included Band Shell Park, Hampton’s historic Carnegie Library, GAR Memorial Hall, and Franklin County’s historic courthouse.
RadioOnTheGo News caught up with Main Street America Program Officer Amy Miller along the walking tour. Miller said these visits offer a chance to see what’s happening and developing in Main Street communities.
“This is an opportunity for, Main Street America in conjunction with Iowa Main Street to work with local communities that are Main Street cities like Hampton, where we get to go in and see all the work that’s being done in the local program, the partnerships that they’ve got set up, the investments that are being made downtown, find out about new businesses, new investors. And then we also look at opportunities for continuing to grow and improve the program and help it be sustainable in the long term.”
The tour also highlighted the community’s cultural and artistic side with murals and Peace Plaza. The city-owned former Rick’s Pharmacy site was also part of the discussion. That site is now in asbestos abatement with several ideas for future use. Officials also asked about historic district standards for building and remodeling.
The day included a presentation by Veterans Affairs coordinator Adam Akers at GAR Memorial Hall. Interim Hampton Main Street Director Jim Davies shared what he sees as the benefits of being a Main Street community.
“Well, one big one is there are design services available from State Main Street. If a if a building, like, I have a upper story apartment would like a design architect to come and basically do the architectural rendering, they would, that’s free of charge. That’s one of the big benefits. And as well as we are networked with the other fifty, fifty two, 53 communities in Iowa, and I think was there 1,700 nationwide. So you can tap into those resources.”
The accreditation process is conducted every two years.
