Main Street asking community to 'Imagine Downtown'

Shuck

This past July, what turned out to be nearly a year's worth of work came to fruition when Main Street Greencastle was restored to the list of recognized Main Street communities in Indiana.

After a few years of dormancy, the group has been revived with a fresh sense of purpose, and now has the backing of the Office of Community and Rural Affairs at the state level.

"We wanted to make sure that we put together a good foundation for the group," current Main Street Board President Christian Shuck said.

"It was really important to make sure we took the appropriate steps so that Main Street could be as effective as possible," Shuck noted.

Those steps included recruiting a new board, completing an application to the state and revising bylaws for the organization.

"Now that we have the framework laid out, we can move forward with the real purpose of the organization," Shuck said.

The purpose is in the name. Focusing on the downtown area, the organization is designed to be a supporting arm for activities and keep "main street" alive.

"The timing couldn't be more perfect," Shuck said. "The success of the community forum held in August was encouraging and the follow-up forum on Oct. 3 will be even better, I'm sure."

The forum he referred to was held at the Prindle Center and let the community come together to have a discussion about the vision for Greencastle as a whole. There will be another community forum, hosted by the city this Thursday.

"We want to capitalize on that momentum and bring the discussion to a focused level," Shuck said. "We will have an 'Imagine Downtown' forum at City Hall on Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. We want everyone to bring the energy and ideas they've been fostering from previous discussions and help form the business district we'd like to see downtown."

The Oct. 10 meeting will be facilitated by Jill Curry, the West Central Community liaison from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs.

For more information or questions, persons may contact Main Street at mainstreetgc@gmail.com.