By Joseph M. Morgan
FORT PAYNE, Ala.—On June 27, 2016 at the DeKalb Theatre in Fort Payne from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. (doors will open at 5 p.m.), the Fort Payne Main Street organization will be reveal the results of two comprehensive community surveys, one for local businesses and an additional survey for residents of Fort Payne and the surrounding area. Main Street conducted the surveys back in April.
The Fort Payne Business Survey was hand-distributed to all businesses within the Fort Payne Main Street District. The Fort Payne Community Survey was commissioned to give Main Street an opportunity to hear from the public in addition to local businesses. The survey was open to any resident of Fort Payne or anyone who lives within a 20-minute drive of Fort Payne.
Fort Payne Main Street Executive Director Beverly Pike said the Main Street Business Survey and the Main Street Community Survey were written and distributed to gain valuable insight and input from the business community and the public. Pike said it is important to hear from the citizens of Fort Payne and the surrounding area in order to help formulate the Fort Payne Main Street Program’s comprehensive plan for revitalizing the city’s historic downtown.
“These surveys will be invaluable to our efforts to improve downtown Fort Payne and have given business owners and members of the community a real voice as we fine tune strategies to improve Downtown Fort Payne and enliven the heart of our city,” Pike said. “Come learn how our survey results rated and how this information will assist Fort Payne Main Street in charting the best economic vitality strategies moving forward and how we, as a community, can work together in determining our next steps in working towards downtown revitalization.”
The Fort Payne Main Street program hoped to receive feedback from 75 businesses through the Business Survey and set a goal before distributing the surveys in April to reach 2,000 participants/survey completions through the Community Survey.
Main Street Alabama announced last June that Fort Payne had been designated a Main Street Community. The Main Street organization works with cities throughout the country to preserve the historic integrity and improve the economies of selected communities. The organization helps Main Street cities like Fort Payne create new jobs and attract dollars and people back to the downtown area of historic communities. Economic development is at the heart of efforts to revitalize downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.
Main Street is a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that has helped cities across the nation revitalize downtowns for more than 30 years. Being selected as a designated member gives local merchants more access to digital libraries, free online training, access to the Main Street Solution Center as well as membership in the National Trust for Historic Preservation and more.
