If you are a bit more than familiar with Main Street — not just Main Street Monroe — you likely know that there are four pillars of Main Street America. Main Street America is the national organization, housed under The Trust for Historic Preservation, that guides main street programs like ours across the country. These pillars, called the Main Street Approach, offer community-based revitalization initiatives with practical and adaptable framework for downtown transformation. It is easily tailored to local conditions. After all, every community and commercial district is different, with its own distinctive assets and sense of place.
Nothing provides a sense of place in Monroe more than the Green County Courthouse. Completed in 1891, it has now created a sense of place for five or six, maybe even seven generations. As of Wednesday, the scaffolding is down and the bell is ringing. The restoration project that started in mid-2021 has officially been completed. More work will be done on the porch roofs and the steps, but it’s uncovered, looking better than ever. During the pandemic, I took comfort in the building daily — knowing that it stood tall during WWI and WWII and so many other chapters of our history. That makes that building and the memories it stirs for tens of thousands priceless.
In the past 20 or so years, there have been several studies, including many by Donovan Rypkema, that show that investment in the appearance and design of downtowns and the properties within them is economically rewarding to the businesses, property owners, and community. Historic preservation is good for business. That falls under the “Design” pillar of the Main Street Approach.
With the courthouse no longer hidden behind scaffolding, it as though there is a friendly nudge about how our downtown is in near top physical shape. And it is only getting better. Work continues on the White Building, partially through a grant brought forth by Main Street Monroe. The same grant will hopefully be secured for the Eugene Hotel project by the end of the year. We are blessed to have a downtown that is a safe and inviting environment — for us residents, shoppers, workers, and visitors.
As we get ready to put out the Christmas decorations again this year, I hope that we are further conveying a positive if not almost intangible element to the look and feel of downtown. The decorations, which city staff will be putting out and up starting Monday are owned and maintained by Main Street. It includes 35 commercial decorations, approximately 50 wreaths, and hundreds of yards of garland. We started a multi-year campaign effort in 2017 to simplify the work and improve the quality of the decorations and make it sustainable in the long term.
Happening this (Saturday) morning GFWC Monroe Woman’s Club, Juda Next Generation 4H Group and Main Street volunteers are installing winter pots. Branches were turned into boughs on Thursday after the Lion’s Club collected branches and cut down a few trees. They used to be cut by handsaws, now chainsaws. By the end of next week, we will have finished decking the halls.
I hope that the efforts, celebrating the season help direct attention to all the physical elements: storefronts, window displays, benches, private and public buildings. We have an appealing atmosphere in spades. How fortunate are we that after over two years we can ignite memories not just with beautiful decorations, but with a distinctive and reaffirmed sense of place.
— Jordan Nordby is the executive director for Main Street Monroe. He can be reached at MonroeMainStreet@tds.net. Complete details on Main Street Monroe and its efforts can be found at mainstreetmonroe.org.
