City of Wayland chosen for Michigan Main Street program to rejuvenate downtown

Sharon Hanks

The city of Wayland in Allegan County is among three Michigan communities chosen to advance to the next level of the Michigan Main Street program, an intensive training program in which community leaders receive five years of technical assistance to revitalize their central business districts.

Wayland joins the cities of Blissfield and Hart picked this year by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority as "select" members of its Main Street program. No financial assistance is awarded to the participants, but they will receive intense consultations on strategies to breathe new life to their downtowns by attracting new residents, business investment, economic growth and jobs. Studies show that investments in downtowns help create vibrant centers and strengthen the state economically.

"It's a major sense of accomplishment," says Mike Salisbury, chair of Wayland's Downtown Development Authority. For more than 18 months, about 25 community leaders researched and compiled more than 100 pages of data as part of the state's complex competitive application process. "It's lots of conversations with people in the community . . . and now the real work begins."

Salisbury says community leaders decided to seek Michigan Main Street's assistance after watching their aging downtown -- many with historic buildings -- stagnate with several vacant or underutilized structures. "There had not been a concerted effort to improve not only the economic climate but the physical characteristics," Salisbury says of his hometown of 4,000 residents.

MSHDA also announced that the cities of Greenville and Sparta were among 10 Michigan communities selected to take part in the Michigan Main Street associate level, where they are introduced to its concepts. These 10 selected communities will receive training over the next year on the basics of the Main Street four point approach, including organization, promotion, economic restructuring and design.

Sources: Michigan State Development Housing Authority; Mike Salisbury, chair of Wayland's Downtown Development Authority

Sharon Hanks is innovations and jobs news editor at Rapid Growth Media. Please send story ideas and comments for the column to Sharon at [email protected]. She also is owner of The Write Words in Grand Rapids.