DATES TO REMEMBER:
DECEMBER 31, 2008: LETTER OF AGREEMENT DUE (Main Street Towns)
JANUARY 20-21: QUARTERLY TRAINING, LITTLE ROCK
MARCH 1-4 : NATIONAL MAIN STREETS CONFERENCE, CHICAGO, IL
MARCH 15-17: GOVERNOR’S CONFERENCE ON TOURISM, FORT SMITH
MAY 14-16 : ARKANSAS PRESERVATION CONFERENCE, EUREKA SPRINGS
SEPTEMBER 14-16: DESTINATION DOWNTOWN, EL DORADO
Main Street Arkansas Calendar December 15-19, 2008
Greg – out all week, annual leave
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MONDAY Mark & Susan – Rogers
TUESDAY Mark - Searcy
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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MSA Receives AR Humanities Council Grant
MSA Henry Award Finalist
CDBG
Good Main Street Harrison Press
Heritage Months Grants (due today)
Non-Profits Contribute $8 billion to AR Economy
Specific Volunteer Recruitment Opportunity
Vacant Building Legislation Discussed – with preservation components
EcoFont
Free Book – Century of the City
N. Virginia Battles Sprawl – NPR coverage
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MSA Receives Arkansas Humanities Council Grant
Last Wednesday, we received notice of our award of a $14,700 Humanities Council grant. The credit goes to Caroline, who authored and will administer the grant. It’s for a project entitled Main Street in Black and White. Caroline will research and compile three traveling exhibits for the towns of Batesville, Blytheville and Texarkana. The exhibits are displays of reprinted historic photographs of downtown scenes & buildings during their heydays, accompanied by historical narratives. It will be a collaborative project—within the AHPP and lots of work with local history collections and museums and Main Street boards. But the exhibits will reach out to people who are not necessarily museum goers. She hopes to show them in nontraditional public spaces to lure people to their historic downtowns
MSA Finalist for Henry Award
We received notice Friday that we are a finalist for the 2009 Tourism Henry Awards in the Arkansas Heritage category. We are honored. It’s stiff competition. Also nominated is the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the Quapaw Bathhouse in Hot Springs & the Hotel Seville in Harrison.
Other nominees who are constituents include:
* Collins Theater, Downtown Paragould (Bootstrap Award)
* Christmas Carriage Tours, West Memphis (Community Tourism Development)
* Eureka Springs Mayor’s Tourism Taskforce (Community Tourism Development)
* Cathy & Earnest Cunningham, Helena (Special Achievement)
* RHDI & Beth Wiedower (Special Achievement)
CDBG
I attended one of the recent Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s grant workshops. AEDC reminded us that CDBG grants close March 31, 2009 and that downtown revitalization is tagged as one of their ‘innovative’ categories for non-entitlement cities. Up to $50,000 is available. Details here:
http://www.arkansasedc.com/business-development/grants/general-assistance-and-innovative-projects.aspx?id=1224
as a reminder, you can download a white paper on how CDBG can be used in downtown revitalization at:
www.mainstreet.org/MediaLibrary/HUD_Historic_Pres_and_CDBG_Use.pdf
They advised that they won’t score, but will review early applications.
Good Main Street Harrison Press:
http://www.harrisondailytimes.com/articles/2008/12/08/news/doc493d5f8f094a8287415499.txt
http://harrisondaily.com/articles/2008/12/02/news/doc4935734ea6e2a681443025.txt
Heritage Month Grants
Applications for DAH Heritage Month grants are due today, December 15!
http://www.arkansasheritage.com/heritage_month/grants.asp
Nonprofits in Arkansas contributed $8 billion to economy, report says
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/246260/print/
Download the report at:
http://ualr.edu/iog/nonprofitcenter/uploads/2008/12/webARNonProfit_FullReport.pdf
from the Division of Volunteerism:
Specific Volunteer Recruitment Opportunity:
I have been invited to do a show on Channel 4's early show in January. Tracy Douglass will be interviewing me regarding volunteer opportunities because a survey has shown that volunteering is on the top 10 New Year's Resolution list. If you would like me to mention your program and volunteer opportunities please email me at sherry.middleton@arkansas.gov and give me the following:
* Name of your program
* Specific volunteer opportunities you have available - not just the title but a very brief summary of the work the volunteer does
She need your input by this week. Thanks!
VACANT BUILDINGS LEGISLATION DISCUSSED – WITH HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROVISIONS
The problem of vacant buildings in urban areas reached a boiling point earlier this year, but increased Congressional interest did not result in new legislation in the 110th Congress. The 111th Congress will have an opportunity, early on, to reconsider the issue.
Congressman Tim Ryan’s (D-OH) is now in the process of drafting vacant buildings legislation that would support historic preservation efforts in cities nationwide, though program funds would also be used for demolition of vacant properties. The draft clearly states that demolition of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places or any property designated under state or local law unless designation is waived by historic preservation officials after public review.
His office is seeking input from the grassroots on “The Renaissance Communities Act of 2009.” The Act sets up a demonstration program focused on areas with at least 10% population loss since 1980. Adaptive reuse of “architectural, historically or culturally significant properties is an eligible expense.
The draft legislation does not proscribe how much funding would be authorized for this program.
A PDF version of the draft legislation is available here:
http://www.preservationaction.org/RC%20Act%20Draft%2010%2027%2008.pdf
Comments on the program draft should be directed to Steve Cerny in Congressman Ryan’s office: Steve.Cerny@mail.house.gov
In our on going Sustainability efforts:
Eco Font
The prints we make for our 'daily use' not only use paper, but also ink. Lots of ink! According to SPRANQ creative communications (Utrecht, The Netherlands) this is partly unnecessary. Based on a hunch of Colin Willems, SPRANQ therefore developed a new font: the Ecofont.
"After the Dutch holey cheese, there now is a Dutch font with holes as well."
Most appealing ideas are simple: how much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. After lots of late hours (and coffee) this resulted in a font that uses up to 20% less ink. Free to download, free to use.
Once you have downloaded Ecofont you can install the font into your local fonts folder. The Ecofont is based on an Open Source font and is free to use. If you no longer want to use the Ecofont, you can remove it from your fonts folder without any problems. Please note: The font is called Spranq_eco_sans_regular.ttf.
"Century of the City" Is Published – Cost-Free Copies Available
This new book, just published by the Rockefeller Foundation, is available on request. Written by Citistates Associates Neal Peirce, Curtis Johnson and Farley Peters, it's based on a landmark "Global Urban Summit" which the Rockefeller Foundation sponsored.
Planetizen -- the premier website on planning issues -- has just recognized the book as one of the 10 best planning books for 2009.
Copies of the book are available, cost-free, to interested readers: email rockefeller@forbesamg.com and include "Century of the City" in the Subject line of the email form. There is no charge for the books; however, the Rockefeller Foundation can offer only two copies per request.
Northern Virginia Battles Sprawl
If you missed December 10th “All Things Considered” segment on the efforts to remake Tysons Corner, in suburban Washington, D.C., from a pedestrians’ nightmare into a “walkable urban” area, you might spend a few minutes with it today. Walking in Tysons Corner is not for the fainthearted. But how do you rebuild a place designed for drivers and parkers into a one for joggers and baby strollers? Not easily, as the segment makes clear.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98011494
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