SHENANDOAH - Three programs in northern Schuylkill County have received their 2012 National Trust Main Street Program accreditation for their downtown revitalization work.
Downtown Shenandoah Inc. and Ashland Downtown Inc. received their accreditation for the fourth year in a row, while Upper Schuylkill Inc. received the approval for the second time in two years.
Overall, 53 Main Street Programs received accreditation for 2012.
"We've been accredited before and it is an honor to be recognized in the national Main Street program," DSI board President Valerie Macdonald said Wednesday. "It just shows the accomplishments that Downtown Shenandoah has made to be able to receive this."
The three programs met the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center. Each year, the National Trust and its partners announce the list of accredited Main Street programs that have built strong revitalization organizations and demonstrate their ability in using the Main Street Four-Point Approach methodology for strengthening local economy and protecting historic buildings.
"The national accreditation means we follow the Four-Point Approach with the promotions, design, organization and economic restructuring committees," Ashland Main Street Manager Gregory Fisher said. "If you're following those guidelines and you're doing the reporting process and showing progress in your revitalization efforts, that's how you get nationally accredited."
While the Ashland and Shenandoah programs are community specific, the Upper Schuylkill Main Street Program covers the six communities associated with it - Ashland, Shenandoah, Girardville, Frackville, Mahanoy City and Ringtown.
"This is our second year in getting accreditation," Upper Schuylkill Executive Director John Guers said. "You have to be a member of the National Trust Main Street Heritage. We were eligible to be members because we met all the criteria, but we didn't become members until last year."
"We congratulate this year's nationally accredited Main Street programs for meeting our established performance standards," National Trust Main Street Center Director Doug Loescher said in a press release. "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."
An organization's performance is annually evaluated by Pennsylvania Downtown Center, 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 benchmarks for measuring an individual Main Street program's application of the Main Street Four-Point Approach to commercial district revitalization. Evaluation criteria determine 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.
In Shenandoah, the Main Street program has been involved with 24 facade projects, administered the painting of the Veterans Garden mural at the American Legion Post 792 building and organizes annual events such as the Kielbasi Festival, Heritage Day and Parade of Nations, and A Dickens Christmas.
The Ashland program has had 23 facade projects and sponsors AppleFest and Old Fashioned Christmas, an annual art exhibit of local talents, works with community groups for the Easter Extravaganza and constructed the Ashland mini-park at Centre and Fifth streets.
Fisher added that ADI still has facade funds available for projects. Contact Fisher at 570-875-3571 for more information.
Upper Schuylkill has been involved in 44 facade projects totaling $220,000, including providing facade funds for the Pennsylvania Railroad freight station project in Shenandoah.
"Being accredited is something we strive for every year," said Shenandoah Main Street Manager Mary Luscavage. "This is our fourth year for accreditation. There are 10 steps that we have to meet to be accredited, which includes community support and strong support from public and private sectors, which we do."
Luscavage said DSI has its vision and mission statement, which was set up when the program started six years ago and is needed for the accreditation.
"We have to have a comprehensive Main Street work plan that has to be updated every year and has to be approved by the Pennsylvania Downtown Center," Luscavage said.
The Pennsylvania Downtown Center is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated solely to the revitalization of the commonwealth's core communities.
"We also strive for historic preservation ethics," Luscavage said. "We try to have buildings go back to where they were or to sustain where they are. We have an active board of directors and committees, and an adequate operating budget. All these things need to be approved by the PDC."
Ongoing staff and volunteer training is also an important aspect of the program, Luscavage said.
"Being accredited means we're doing things right," Luscavage said.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit organization, works to save America's historic places to enrich our future. www.PreservationNation.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 $53.6 billion in new public and private investment. Participating communities have created 448,835 net new jobs and 104,961 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 229,164 buildings.