Main Street Wooster, Inc.
One of Main Street Wooster's first projects to revive Downtown was a beautification campaign, which included installing planters and trees
The Downtown Wooster Economic Development Project was the precursor to Main Street Wooster, Inc.
Main Street Wooster and the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce share a building on West Liberty Street
Another project to revitilize Downtown was the rebuilding of the town square, which took place in 1993
The town square after its remodeling in 1993, as it looks today
As its first project in 1987, Main Street Wooster installed banners on the streets of Downtown to advertise events and organizations
Today, banners hang on light posts and on the gazebo, announcing events sponsored by Main Street Wooster, such as Kids Day or the Farmers' Market
Recognizing the economic plight of downtown, Wooster’s business and civic leaders were not content to let the area fall into disrepair. In 1985, the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown Revitalization Committee organized to form Main Street Wooster, a non-profit local subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.1 The new organization adopted four goals: building cooperation among downtown businesses and community groups; enhancing the appearance of downtown; advertising the area to consumers and potential new businesses; and restructuring the downtown economy.2 In 1987, after months of meetings with Main Street Wooster’s Board of Trustees and other community leaders, the organization began its first revitalization projects, putting up banners for events and other causes, and cleaning downtown sidewalks and buildings.3 These small changes had a lasting effect, piquing people’s interest in goings-on downtown, and eventually galvanizing the community to come together and take an active role in rebuilding downtown.
1 “Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce: History,”Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce, accesed July 3, 2013, http://www.woosterchamber.com/ABOUTUS/ History.aspx
2 “About Main Street Wooster,” Main Street Wooster, updated Feb. 12, 2008, accessed July 3, 2013, http://mainstreetwooster.org/index.php/about-wooste r/history-of-downtown-wooster
3 Steve Huszai, “Wooster Came Together and Result is Vibrant Downtown,” Daily Record, Nov. 29, 2011, accessed July 3, 2013, http://www.the-daily-record.com/local%20news/2011/11/29/wooster-came-together-and-result-is-vibrant-downtown