Celebrating ‘Main Street’
Ribbon cutting ushers in status for downtown
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Amanda Gillooly takes a Kona ice treat from Matthew Almaroad during the Tennessee Main Street down- town event on Market Street on Friday, July 23. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Anderson County Chamber of Commerce officials and others involved in the city’s des- ignation as a Tennessee Main Street Community cut a ribbon commemorating the status during a Market Street event in front of the Maude W. Brown Park on Friday, July 23. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Selling “Historic Downtown Clinton” T-shirts during last Friday’s Tennessee Main Street event on Market Street are, from left, Fairest of the Fair winners Cadence Crowley, Ellie Linthicum and Jillian Bivens. - G. Chambers Williams III
A ribbon has been cut honoring Clinton’s recent official designation as a “Tennessee Main Street Community,” putting the city in an elite group among the state’s municipalities.
The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce and its associated Historic Downtown Clinton group staged the ribbon-cutting event on Friday afternoon, July 23, on Market Street in front of the new Maude W. Brown Park.
Chamber President Rick Meredith was joined by other local officials, including Historic Downtown Clinton program director Katherine Birkbeck, in the ribbon cutting, which kicked off an evening of fun activities for adults and kids all along Market Street.’
Birkbeck was instrumental in the city’s application to the state to become an official Main Street Community, and she said the designation opens lots of opportunities for improving and boosting the city’s historic shopping district.
The evening’s activities included live music, food trucks, a cornhole tournament, a kids’ watermelon-eating contest, and the sale of T-shirts, frisbees and cups with the Historic Downtown Clinton logo.
Clinton’s Main Street accreditation was announced in early June by the state Department of Economic and Community Development, putting Clinton among a small group of Tennessee municipalities to have achieved that status.
“We’re one of now 42 cities to qualify, out of about 312 cities statewide,” Meredith said earlier.
Meredith, Birkbeck and the chamber staff worked with City Manager Roger Houck and other city officials to submit the 200-page application in early May to seek the Main Street status.
Tennessee’s Main Street program is part of Main Street America, a nationwide effort administered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which designates communities across the nation for the special status.
Clinton is the only community in Anderson County to make it into the program so far.
The program “provides training, support and grant opportunities to assist in downtown revitalization efforts,” the state’s announcement said. “Each selected areas of their downtown centers where the program will focus on historic preservation, community events and economic vitality.”
Clinton’s downtown includes Main and Market streets, the heart of Historic Downtown Clinton, Meredith said.
The designation allows Clinton to compete for special state ECD grants to improve and preserve the downtown area.
Birkbeck, owner of The Spindle Tree on Market Street, led a steering committee of about 25 people to help prepare for the Main Street program recognition, Meredith said.
City Manager Roger Houck said the effort show “the commitment” of the city and community organizations “to revitalization of the downtown area.