Downtown Sumter Receives 2017 National Main Street Accreditation

Sumter, SC (June 15, 2017) -- Downtown Sumter, South Carolina has been designated as an accredited Main Street Americaâ„¢ program for meeting rigorous performance standards set by the National Main Street Center. 

Each year, the National Main Street Center and its coordinating program partners announce the list of accredited Main Street America programs in recognition of their exemplary commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach®.

“It is a great honor to recognize this year’s 828 nationally Accredited Main Street America programs for their outstanding work to transform downtown and neighborhood commercial districts,” says Patrice Frey, President & CEO of the National Main Street Center. “Across the country, Main Street America programs truly strengthen the economic, social, and cultural fabric of their entire communities.”

The organization’s performance is annually evaluated by the Downtown Revitalization Board, which works in partnership with the National Main Street Center to identify the local programs that meet 10 performance standards. Evaluation criteria determines the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking programmatic progress and actively preserving historic buildings.

“Our revitalization efforts have stirred a great deal of interest and activity in the Central Business District,” stated Howie Owens, Downtown Manager. “In the past two years, we have experienced some of the largest investments in our Downtown in more than 40 years, with three new facilities and 10 preservation projects, with well over $20 million in both public and private investments.”

Downtown Sumter is the Central Business District for the City of Sumter. Its north to south physical boundaries can be found between Calhoun and Bartlette Streets and its east to west boundaries between Harvin and Washington Street. Downtown Sumter has an aggressive revitalization program, including new streetscapes, green spaces with beautiful fountains and renovation and new construction of buildings. Downtown Sumter has also become the place to go for fine dining, entertainment, outdoor concerts, market, and a multitude of shows in the beautiful Sumter Opera House.

Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years. Today, it is a network of more than 1,000 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Since 1980, communities participating in the program have leveraged more than $71.35 billion in new public and private investment, generated 583,869 net new jobs and 131,974 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 267,800 buildings. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. 

For more information on Downtown Sumter, visit their website at www.downtownsumter.org.

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