On August 17, Main Street Alabama held its 10th annual Awards of Excellence Banquet at Stovehouse in Huntsville to celebrate the successes of local programs, and Gadsden received five awards.
The event was sponsored by Alabama Municipal Electric Authority and Alfa Companies. Main Street Alabama’s President and State Coordinator Mary Helmer Wirth and Assistant State Coordinator Trisha Black recognized projects and individuals who made significant contributions to their communities. The Awards of Excellence program highlighted the tremendous impacts of these honorees in their respective areas.
The Awards of Excellence recognized winners in the categories of Adaptive Reuse, Preservation, Historic Rehabilitation, Fundraising, Public/Private Partnerships, Business Development, Economic Impact, Promotion, Business Promotion, Marketing, Tourism, Volunteer Development, Placemaking, Design Development, Non-Historic Building Design, Reinvestment, and Planning & Public Space. Local Main Street programs also selected a Main Street Hero that honored an individual, business or organization that made an outstanding contribution to their program and was recognized at the Toast to Heroes Reception sponsored by Regions Bank prior to the banquet.
“We are proud of the continued growth of our downtown area and the recognition that comes from the awards that we received at the conference. We are grateful to our merchants, restaurants and professional businesses for working together to continue the growth,” Downtown Gadsden Inc. Director Kay Moore said. “We realize that the support of our loyal customers, both local and those who travel to support us, are the reason for our success and we thank you. We look forward to continuing to be the place you choose to spend your time when shopping, dining and enjoying the arts.”
Downtown Gadsden, Inc. received the following awards of excellence:
• Main Street Hero – Eric T. Wright
• Excellence in Fundraising – An Evening at the Pitman
• Excellence in Promotion – Back to School Flamingle
• Excellence in Adaptive Reuse – Etowah County Board of Education
• Excellence in Reinvestment – District reinvestment of over $20,000,000
Main Street Alabama has 32 Designated Programs and 32 Network Communities. Alexander City, Anniston, Athens, Atmore, Birmingham’s Historic 4th Ave Business District, Birmingham’s Woodlawn District, Calera, Centreville, Columbiana, Decatur, Demopolis, Elba, Enterprise, Eufaula, Florence, Foley, Fort Payne, Gadsden, Heflin, Jasper, LaFayette, Leeds, Marion, Monroeville, Montevallo, Opelika, Oxford, Scottsboro, South Huntsville, Russellville, Talladega, and Wetumpka each have Designated Programs. Communities interested in downtown revitalization can participate in Main Street Alabama’s Network.
Main Street Alabama is a non-profit organization focusing on bringing jobs, dollars and people back to Alabama’s historic communities. Economic development is at the heart of our efforts to revitalize downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.
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