From overseeing historic preservation and building a bustling downtown to securing public support for the Riverwalk, Main Street Columbus has been helping shape the city’s core for four decades.
The nonprofit is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, starting with its “40 for 40 for 40” fundraising campaign on Tuesday.
Well known for its successful downtown events, like Market Street Festival and Wassail Fest, Executive Director Barbara Bigelow said the organization’s goal of promoting downtown goes far beyond event planning.
“Many people think we just do events, but our actual founding is rehabilitation,” Bigelow told The Dispatch. “And an event feeds your revitalization in your downtown. It keeps it active.
“What we do does not just benefit our organization,” she later added. “It benefits this entire community, the city and the county.”
Main Street Columbus was founded as a city agency in 1985 by Paul Coggin, who served as the organization’s first director, to support downtown revitalization. It joined the National Main Street program the same year.
George Irby, who succeeded Coggin as director and now sits on the Main Street board of directors, remembers one of the earlier projects the organization took on was working with the city to write the historic preservation ordinance.
“We didn’t create the wheel,” Irby told The Dispatch. “We used examples from other places in the ordinance and even writing the guidelines for the historic district and what all should be included in that. That was a big thing.”
That method proved to be successful again in 1998 when Irby organized a trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee for city and county officials to explore how the city’s Riverwalk transformed downtown.
The trip was successful, and soon, funding was secured for the project. Convincing the public that a Riverwalk would be an asset to downtown was the next challenge, Irby said.
“Then the public was saying you’re going to have crime … down there, and so we needed an avenue to change that thinking,” Irby said. “That’s where the Main Street came in … to help with the publicity. They had a website … where people could write in and respond. The major goal that Main Street (met) was … helping to sell the idea of the Riverwalk.”
Much of the work Main Street did, Irby said, was behind the scenes, but all of it – from funding loan programs for downtown facade renovations to stringing lights across downtown buildings – has been critical in revitalizing the downtown area.
“That brings people here to see Columbus,” Irby said. “My whole thing has always been, had it not been for Main Street, we would have been one of those cities that people just drive through.
“… Downtown is your heartbeat, and if you come downtown and nothing’s going on, why would I want to be in a town where nothing’s going on? When they bring people in, they’re proud to show them the downtown,” Irby added.
Keeping downtown active
Today Main Street Columbus boasts a successful reputation across the state. The organization received two awards during the Mississippi Main Street Association’s annual awards luncheon this year, including Bigelow being named the Charles Beasley Outstanding Main Street Director of the Year.
When she started the role in 2013, Bigelow said her goal was to create initiatives that, while strengthening downtown, also benefited the entire city.
“I just hoped to move downtown forward, to add some … projects and programs that would be beneficial for the whole community though downtown,” she said.
One of the most significant milestones came in 2015 when Main Street Columbus received its 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, just before its 30th anniversary. The status made the organization eligible for more grants and allowed people and businesses to receive tax deductions for donations, Bigelow said.
Bigelow also noted Main Street’s efforts in continuing the Hitching Lot Farmer’s Market since taking over the event in 2007. The market continues to draw dozens of vendors each weekend, she said.
“We’ve got more vendors and more produce, more of everything, but more produce at this time of year than we think we’ve had since many years,” she said. “We’re proud to be able to do that. That’s huge for our community, for our local farmers and our bakers and our crafters that we have down there.”
Main Street Columbus is currently finishing downtown revitalization projects with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, including the now-completed renovation of Leadership Plaza on College Street. Bigelow hopes that by mid-August a long-awaited speaker system will also be installed downtown with the funds.
40 for 40 for 40
To celebrate its 40th year, Main Street Columbus will kick off a fundraiser called 40 for 40 for 40, encouraging supporters to donate $40 or more over 40 days with the goal of raising $40,000.
“We’re asking everybody we know to donate $40 or more … to Main Street Columbus to celebrate 40 years,” Bigelow said. “… We’re running the program for 40 days. … Then we’re asking when you donate, you reach out to five people.”
The fundraiser will conclude with a celebration Aug. 9 at Leadership Plaza, where donors will be entered into drawings for door prizes.
Donations can be made at the Main Street Columbus Office.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
