Fort Payne Main Street Honored

Street Honored

GADSDEN, Ala.-- At the eighth annual Main Street Awards of Excellence, Fort Payne Main Street received awards for their various projects throughout Fort Payne.

Governor Kay Ivey recently proclaimed August 20th Main Street Alabama Day. The day recognizes the efforts of the organization that is focused on creating jobs and keeping character in communities across the state.

During the Awards of Excellence program, sponsored by Alabama Municipal Electric Authority, Main Street Alabama’s President and State Coordinator, Mary Helmer Wirth, honored projects and individuals that made tremendous impacts in their respective communities.

The Awards of Excellence recognized winners in the categories of Preservation, Historic Rehabilitation, Fundraising, Public Relations, Public/Private Partnerships, Business Development, Economic Impact, Adaptive Reuse, Promotion, Business Promotion, Marketing, Placemaking, Non-Historic Building Design, 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.

Fort Payne Main Street received an award for Excellence in Preservation – “Our Common Thread”, The Ida Goza Story;

Excellence in PlaceMaking – “The Small Town that Shines”, The Chandelier Tree;

Excellence in Planning/Public Space – Life’s Journey Reflection and Meditation Garden.

Mary Reed of Heritage Wiring was awarded the Main Street Community Hero award for all her dedication and work on Fort Payne Main Street and in the community. She serves as an FPMS board member and as Chair of the Fort Payne Main Street Design Committee. Mary spent many hours with the City team to create the Chandelier Tree as part of the “Small Town that Shines” project and the Ida Goza Story window wrap on the Quinn building as part of the “Our Common Thread” project.

The Fort Payne Main Street Board members include:

Main Street Interim Executive Director, Connie Fuller

Main Street President, Darlene Rotch

Vice President, John Dersham

Secretary, Donna Chesser

Treasurer, Steve Malcom

Economic Vitality Chair, Sharon Barnes

Economic Vitality Committee Members: John T. Davis, Randy Posey

Fort Payne Council, Johnny Eberhart

Volunteer Coordinator, Ken Mayo

Promotions, Cathy Perez

Design Committee Chair, Mary Reed