Bradford's Main Street Program Receives
2011 National Trust Accreditation

The Bradford Main Street program has been designated 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 coordinating program partners announce the list of accredited Main Street programs that have built strong revitalization organizations that have demonstrated their ability to follow the Main Street methodology.

“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 Pennsylvania Downtown Center in Harrisburg, 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 benchmark for measuring an individual 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 www.mainstreet.org/nationalprograms.

The Bradford Main Street program began in 1988, and works with businesses in the downtown historic business district. Since 1999 the façade improvement program has received strong support from the property owners within the historic business district. To date, approximately $346, 221 has been invested (private investment) in façade renovations, with grant awards totaling $215,955. Continued funding of the façade program is currently unknown; however, in 2009 and 2010 alone there was more than $800,000 in private investment in the buildings within the City of Bradford’s Main Street program. The amount is made up from the sale of properties as well as physical renovations and repairs to the buildings. The Main Street program also coordinates downtown events and promotions, and develops economic retention and restructuring plans for the Main Street area. Two Main Street businesses that the program directly works with through the Downtown Bradford Redevelopment Authority (DBRC) are The Main Street Mercantile and the Main Street Movie House. Anita Dolan, Main Street Manager said, “It has been wonderful to see a renewed purpose to revitalize Bradford in the past several years, and the Main Street program is a key component of that revitalization. I am seeing more and more partnerships forming within the area that are working hard to see Bradford be the best it can be.”

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a non-profit membership organization bringing people together to protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them. By saving the places where great moments from history – and the important moments of everyday life – took place, the National Trust for Historic Preservation helps revitalize neighborhoods and communities, spark economic development and promote environmental sustainability. With headquarters in Washington, DC, nine regional and field offices, 29 historic sites and partner organizations in all 50 states, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people, organizations and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history and collectively shaping the future of America’s stories. For more information visit www.nationaltrust.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 $48.9 billion in new public and private investment. Participating communities have created 417,919 net new jobs and 94,176 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 214,263 buildings, leveraging an average of $27 in new investment for every dollar spent on their Main Street district revitalization efforts.

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