In what the secretary of the Roanoke Avenue Business Alliance called a turning point for the city, Roanoke Rapids has been accepted into the North Carolina Main Street Program.
Officials with the alliance announced the governor’s decision today at a press conference at Wilkie Real Estate.
“I’m so excited I could jump up and kiss the mayor,” alliance President Kim Simpson said, and did just that.
Simpson said she didn’t expect the announcement this early, in fact one wasn’t expected until the middle of October.
For Roanoke Avenue business owner Roy Edmonds, the announcement today, “Is one of the greatest things to happen on the avenue. I would like to see more apartments in the downtown area and shops, make it a little community inside of our community.”
The next step, however, will be to hire a Main Street director using around $30,000 in commitments and $8,200 in city funds, Simpson said.
There will also be an orientation on Oct. 21, alliance Secretary Sherry Wade said. She said the alliance will be deliberate in its search for a director.
A director will be able to secure funding for projects in the Main Street program, Wade said.
Wade said she believed the abundance of historic preservation in the city helped get the city in the program, along with Davidson, Garner and Kings Mountain, making a total of 60 towns in the program in its 29 years of existence.
Also contributing was widespread public support for the program, she said. “I’ve never seen the community come together like that.”
Mayor D.N. Beale warned, however, the public shouldn’t expect things overnight. “We’ve got to be patient,” he said. “Everyone should work together to make it work.”
Realistically, Simpson said to get the avenue where it should be will be a 10- to 15-year process. “I think every year we want to make some improvements.”
Simpson said the orientation will give the alliance a better understanding of what is to happen next and what its priorities will be.
There is no talk of a special tax to fund the program, Wade said. Business owners are asked to voluntarily contribute what would amount to a special tax, however, she said.
“We are excited that our highly successful Main Street program ... is able to bring in partner communities,” state Secretary of Commerce J. Keith Crisco said in a news release. “North Carolina is fortunate to have so many fine cities and towns, and yours has the opportunity to become a model for others throughout the state through this partnership effort of downtown development and revitalization.”
