Main Street Arkansas Update - July 7, 2008

NEXT MSA QUARTERLY TRAINING: JULY 29-30, HARDY
TOPIC: MAIN TO MAIN (HOW CAN WE REPLICATE THIS IN AR?)
SPEAKER: LEON STEELE, MAIN TO MAIN COORDINATOR, LOUISIANA MAIN STREET

JULY 24-25 - ARKANSAS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION SUMMER MEETING, MT MAGAZINE

OCTOBER 6-8, DESTINATION DOWNTOWN, BAY ST. LOUIS, MS
OCTOBER 21-25 – NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION CONFERENCE, TULSA, OK

October 20-21 - Artlinks 2008: The Value of the Arts in the 21st-Century, Little Rock

NOVEMBER 15-18 NATIONAL TRAILS SYMPOSIUM, LITTLE ROCK more at www.americantrails.org (good place for Rails to Trails information)

Main Street Arkansas Calendar July 7 – July 11, 2008
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MONDAY Greg, Susan, Nancy – annual leave
TUESDAY Greg & Caroline – Sheridan; Nancy – Blytheville; Mark – annual leave
WEDNESDAY Cary – Legislative Review; Mark – annual leave
THURSDAY Mark – annual leave
FRIDAY Cary – LR
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IN THIS ISSUE
DOWNTOWNWALNUTRIDGE.ORG
HOT DOG CART IN ARGENTA
SMARTHOUSE WAY UPDATE
SOMA PANHANDELING ISSUES
PARAGOULD FARMERS MARKET PRESS
WALNUT RIDGE ADN PRESS
RECTOR ADN PRESS
NTHP ON SMART CITY RADIO
MAIN STREET’S HOPE VI APPORTIONMNET
3 GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
ONLINE DONATION OPPORTUNITY
HELP LOCAL, DOWNTOWN BIZ CREATE WEBSITE
SUBURBAN DREAM DYING?
HOUSE MUSEUMS IN TROUBLE


Check out http://downtownwalnutridge.org/

Hot Dog Cart in Argenta
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/229487

Main Street Argenta Brownfields/SmartHouse Way Press:
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2008/jun/30/nlr-development-site-waiting-soil-cleanup-20080630/?news/arkansas
- subscriber only, sorry

SoMa Panhandling Issues Press:
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=68344
- harsh comments by readers & viewers

Paragould Farmers Market Press:
http://www.paragoulddailypress.com/articles/2008/06/23/top_story/doc485db72e2bdff537158042.txt

ADN presentation highlights meeting
http://www.thetd.com/freepages/2008-07-02/news/story3.php

Walnut Ridge Interior Design Press
http://thetd.com/freepages/2008-07-02/news/story4.php

Rector ADN Press
http://www.claycountydemocrat.com/story/1441841.html

Recently on Smart City Radio
Host Carol Colletta spoke with Emily Wadhams. She's the Vice President of Public Policy for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington. She says that preserving and retrofitting historic buildings with new technology can be more environmentally friendly that building new buildings.
I encourage you to listen to it here (or to subscribe to the podcast like I do!):

http://smartcityradio.fluidhosting.com/2008/06-June/062608_SMARTCITY.mp3
- having listened to this, I got the impression Ms Colletta was unconvinced that preservationist weren’t still tilting at windmills, hoping to save every structure, no matter condition or potential use. She also seemed skeptical of the idea that retrofitting buildings is the highest & best solution to our energy issues. Lesson here, IMHO, is that we as preservationist have to continue to make the economic case for our work as we continue to fight the [false] impression that we’re hysterical and irrational rather than focused on using preservation as an economic and community development tool. End rant.

Hope VI – Main Street Apportionment
The next round of the FY `08 HOPE VI Main Street Grants Program is now underway. For a PowerPoint orientation, you can visit:

www.mainstreet.org/medialibrary/HOPE-VI-Main-Street-Overview.ppt

This program provides grants of up to $1 million each to small communities for affordable housing projects that are part of a downtown revitalization plan. The program debuted two years ago and three official Main Street communities received funding. Let's build on that achievement!

The deadline for submission is August 18th, 2008. Project requirements are summarized below; complete program details are available in the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) which can be found here: http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/ph/hope6/grants/fy08/

Grant Opportunities:

National Endowment for the Humanities
America's Historical and Cultural Organizations: Planning Grants
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=42175

National Endowment for the Humanities
America's Historical and Cultural Organizations: Implementation Grants
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=42176

Mid-Career Grant Program 2008

The James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation will award a research grant up to $25,000 to mid¬career professionals who have an advanced or professional degree and at least 10 years experience in historic preservation or related fields, including architecture, landscape architecture, architectural conservation, urban design, environmental planning, archeology, architectural history, and the decorative arts. Additional smaller grants, up to $10,000, are made at the discretion of the Trustees.

The grants are intended to support projects of innovative original research or creative design that advance the practice of historic preservation in the U.S. These grants may be partially supported through the generosity of the Kress Foundation.

Please see our web site at www.fitchfoundation.org for details or contact Erin Tobin, Executive Director, at info@fitchfoundation.org.

The application deadline is Friday, September 19, 2008 (postmarked).
ONLINE DONATION OPPORTUNITY
- this is something each of you should do. There are a couple of programs without websites and a couple of programs desperately in need of a website update. I encourage you to use this opportunity as leverage with a local web developer to help with in-kind donation of services. Also consider using DTR funds for website work.
Statewide Partner Preservation Oklahoma received a $10K online contribution this month through its contribution page hosted by the National Trust. This contribution is the largest single gift a Partner has received through this service, which is free to Statewide and Local Partners. Congratulations, POK!
The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently reported that online charitable contributions average the same size as donations made by cash or check. If your organization does not have the capacity to accept online donations, consider a collaboration with the National Trust's Membership Department.
The National Trust can host contribution pages via a secure web site. Activity reports will be e-mailed weekly, with contributions forwarded on a monthly or quarterly basis. There is no fee for this service, and the National Trust will offer a complimentary membership to each contributor. To participate in this free service, get in touch with Margaret Gattis by email or phone, 202.588.6118.
And on that note:

From our friends at alt.Consulting:
You Can Build a Website for Your Business!
Check out Google Page Creator Today
It is critical for every small business to have a web presence. And, it becomes more important every day. When customers are looking for resources, their first step is usually an Internet search. If you do not have a website you are missing opportunities to grow and reach new customers.
With Google Page Creator (click here), you can build a website in just a few minutes even if you don't have a lot of experience - and it is free. We encourage you to check it out.
The first step to your new website is to sign up for an email address through Google. Your "gmail" name becomes your homepage name so you want to set up your account using some version of your business name.
The process is simple - you choose your layout and design and can easily add text, pictures and links. You preview your site before publishing it and you can easily 'unpublish' it if you want to make more changes.
To demonstrate, alt.Consulting built a new site using Google Page Creator. Click here to check out this site and read a special article on "Management Strategies that Work".

And when you need more than a simple presence on the web, we recommend that you hire a professional website developer to help you add the bells and whistles, allow you to sell items through your website and develop strategies for creating more traffic to your site.

Is America’s Suburban Dream Collapsing Into A Nightmare?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/16/suburb.city/index.html

Historic House Museums Struggling
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-16-historic-homes_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip