Charles Williams is director of the Main Street Program

Roanoke Rapids has been selected to participate in the North Carolina Main Street program.  The staff of the North Carolina Main Street Center, a part of the Department of Commerce, Division of Community Assistance, will be working with us as we continue our efforts to revitalize our downtown/uptown area. Combined, this Roanoke Avenue Business District is the center of our community and its health and vitality are of critical importance to us all.

For that reason we are hosting a Downtown Vision Forum on Nov. 30 at the Kirkwood Adams Community Center.  The purpose of the forum is to gather input from our citizens regarding their views of what is good about our downtown/uptown, what needs improvement, and what our downtown/uptown should become in the future.  Your participation is important as we develop our vision because from that we will plan our activities and set our priorities for the next several years.

During the forum we will work together in small groups to identify Roanoke Avenue’s strengths and weaknesses and to then write vision statements, based on our economic drivers, describing what we want our downtown/uptown to be.  This process will allow us to involve many people representing many interests in our community.  This input is critical as we begin working on a long-range plan for our downtown area.

The forum will begin promptly at 7 p.m. and end promptly at 9:15 p.m.  “Picture Downtown,” a photographic display, can be viewed during the thirty minutes prior to the meeting.  These photographs taken by local people with an interest in downtown identify areas of downtown that need improvement as well as those that are sources of pride. Seeing the photos may trigger your own thoughts about what is good and what is not good about our downtown.