LA CROSSE — The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) recognized the best downtown projects of 2022 at the 32nd Wisconsin Main Street Awards ceremony held April 21 at the La Crosse Center in downtown La Crosse.
“Powered by dedicated business people, volunteers and government officials, Wisconsin’s Main Street and Connect Communities are working hard to make our downtowns more vibrant and prosperous places,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “These thriving communities with exciting places to work, beautiful outdoor recreation opportunities and safe, affordable housing are some of our state’s best talent attraction tools.”
Projects honored Friday include business and community development initiatives, historic preservation, community celebration and revitalization success stories from communities across Wisconsin. That included Main Street Monroe’s summer theme — Cheese, Glorious Cheese which won Best Public Placemaking Improvement Project.
This award was eligible to a municipality or Main Street organization that designed and implemented attractive and sympathetic improvements to improve the built environment. This could have included streetscape projects, restoration of community landmarks; waterfront development projects, public art installations, etc. Improvements must have been within the Main Street Program area. For Monroe, that includes the square and approximately three blocks off in all directions.
Tracy Hamilton, who has been organizing the summer themes since its inception in 2011, emphasized how everything came together so well in 2022. “I really feel privileged that I can continue being creative and giving to the community and helping spotlight how wonderful Monroe is. Andy Hill, all the artists, and our entire volunteer group deserves a ton of credit. It was a beautiful thing to be a part of.”
The overall scope of the project, involvement of civic partners, creativity, and special design considerations were all reviewed as part of the nomination.
Twenty volunteer artists painted fiberglass pieces in the shape of cheese wedges that were 5’ tall, 3’ at the base, and 2’ deep. Each chose something special to them. A rendering had to first be provided to the summer theme subcommittee. Final designs included camping, weekends up north, farmers in the field, the rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin, downtown streets, cheese and beer pairings in Green County, and, of course, sports. Artists were featured on Main Street’s social media throughout the summer. Organically, these posts alone reached 104,386 people and had 13,804 engagements.
As part of Main Street’s typical events calendar, a summer kickoff event to officially unveil the pieces last June.
Additionally, sidewalk stickers with a trivia question, made in the USA (42x48”) were installed. “What are the holes in Swiss Cheese Called?” The answer (The Eyes) was found in a business’ window creating a family friendly, interactive way to explore throughout the district at any time. Hamilton, who has owned Heartland Graphics for 28 years, designed all the stickers which were also printed locally on material made in Ohio.
“The Main Street Awards offer a chance to celebrate some of our communities’ most creative downtown efforts and hopefully inspire a few new ideas,” Hughes said.
Main Street Monroe will be unveiling this year’s theme: Level Up on Main — towards the end of May. The pieces will again include fiberglass and local artists, alongside longtime favorite Zoli who creates woodcarvings, and metal pieces created locally, as well.
In its 18th year, Main Street Monroe has been recognized for a variety of projects over the years, including Best Design Committee Project in 2007 for its Façade Improvement Grant Program and LIVE! Shopping Nights which received Best Retail Event in 2020. Numerous volunteers have been recognized by the state including current board president, Steve Moon (2021), Hamilton (2013), and two-time recipient Kareesa Wilson (2017 and 2020).
Wisconsin Main Street is a community development program administered by WEDC that targets Wisconsin’s historic commercial districts. WEDC provides technical support and training to the 34 Main Street communities to help them revitalize their business districts based on guidelines developed by the National Main Street Center.
Since the program’s inception in 1987, Wisconsin Main Street community projects have resulted in the creation of more than 3,200 new businesses and nearly 16,500 net new jobs. Additionally, over $2.1 billion in private investment has occurred in Wisconsin Main Street communities.
During fiscal year 2022, Wisconsin Main Street communities added 215 new businesses and 647 net new jobs. None of this activity would be possible without the nearly 33,000 volunteer hours that were dedicated to the Main Street effort by passionate individuals.
