Main Street
The term “Main Street” refers to our historic downtown district, and Main Street is often the starting point for historic building rehabilitation. Director Caroline Reece developed the Main Street Historic Improvement Grant bringing $200,000 of city funds to be matched by local historic building owners, and was one of only 16 towns in the nation to secure a National Park Service grant for historic building façades in 2020. Among other initiatives are the downtown mural projects, alleyway lighting, Downtown Business Buzz segment on WFTM, Maysville’s inclusion in the B-Line and implementation of the designated entertainment district center, the 2020 small business disaster relief loan, and Covid-inspired drive-through Santa visits. During Caroline’s tenure, Maysville has won state awards in beautification, promotion, and original projects.
Maysville Main Street is an accredited Main Street America program and was one of the founding participants in the Kentucky Main Street program, which began in 1979. There is a nine-member local Main Street board with representatives from various downtown residents and business owners and community organizations. It is charged with the responsibility of optimizing the continued integrity, vitality and character of the city’s historic downtown area while being mindful of its extraordinary heritage. Main Street projects include:
- Hanging flower baskets
- Second and Third Street traffic flow
- Public Wi-Fi
- New city logo and branding
- Downtown wayfinding signage
- Maintaining an updated building survey
- Christmas and 4th of July parades and activities
- Downtown & Pet Halloween
- Downtown Summer Sounds concert series
- Middle Market Street beautification
- Live & Love Local Weekends
- Small Business Shopping Challenge
- Maintain national accreditation standards
- Gather, calculate, and report quarterly reinvestment statistics
- Boarded window ordinance
