As part of its continuing effort to improve downtown, Aberdeen is exploring the possibility of rejoining the North Carolina Main Street Program.

The town has discussed the pros and cons of the program at length during recent meetings, and on Monday Teresa Watts, assistant director of the North Carolina Main Street Center, made a presentation to the board and answered questions. No action was taken by the board after the presentation.

The North Carolina Main Street Center is a program of the N.C. Department of Commerce, Urban Development Division. It provides technical assistance on downtown revitalization and primarily serves communities under 50,000 in population throughout the state.

Aberdeen was a member of the Main Street program in the early ’90s, but eventually dropped out of the program.

Watts told the board that because Aberdeen would be reapplying, program administrators are seeking certain assurances from the town.

“We want to see that the interest and a commitment to the program is there,” Watts said.

The program is “economic development within the context of historic preservation,” Watts told the board.

To do this, the program offers guidance, training and education as well as information sharing and networking. It also serves as a liaison to the National Trust Main Street Center.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation created the National Main Street Center in 1980, beginning with 30 communities in six states, including five in North Carolina. Today, 46 states and more than 1,100 communities have Main Street programs.

Ray Ogden, the former director of Partners in Progress, is helping the town prepare the application to the program.

At a prior board work session, Ogden discussed his findings on the program. During that meeting, the town commissioners expressed some reservations about the cost associated with the program, specifically the expense of hiring a Main Street manager as a requirement of the program.

After the discussion, the board asked that a representative from the program attend a later meeting to present more information.

On Monday, questions again arose over the downtown manager. Town Planning Director Kathy Liles asked Watts how much time typically a municipality would have from the time it was accepted into the program until it needed to have a downtown manager.

Watts said each municipality handles the position differently. She said some have the manager selected prior to being accepted into the program, while others wait until after they are selected.

“From you, we are looking to know, yes, we are committed to have a paid manager in place,” she said.

The qualifications for a downtown manager were discussed briefly. Mayor Betsy Mofield said she believed the most important qualities are a background in marketing and nonprofit management.

Ogden offered a different take.

“I think the key is basic intelligence and a passion for the town,” he said. “If you have that passion, you can learn a lot of the rest.”

Watts said the Main Street Center offers an annual three-day training session for new managers.

Mofield asked what the chances are that Aberdeen will be reaccepted to the program.

“Are we a shoo-in?” she asked.

Watts would not say what kind of chance the town has to be accepted.

Mofield seemed supportive of the program.

“We had a Main Street Program in the 1990s, and at one point it became inactive,” she said. “We are trying to reinstate that, and we are a long way into that process. We have our branding. We’ve had a lot of facade improvements in the downtown, so it’s very doable, I think.”

The Main Street approach to downtown revitalization is based on a four-point approach of organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring.

Along with the four-point approach, the program is grounded in eight principles: comprehensive, incremental approach, self-help, partnerships, assets, quality focus, change and implementation.

Earlier this year, Pinehurst tapped two assistant village managers to work together to handle the responsibilities of a downtown manager. The move resulted from input the Village Council received from the North Carolina Downtown Development Association, a nonprofit group with expertise in downtown development.

The village had asked representatives from the association to come in and evaluate all aspects of downtown and make recommendations for improvements.

The village of Pinehurst is not a member of the N.C. Main Street Program.

For more information about the Main Street program, click here.

Contact Tom Embrey at tembrey@thepilot.com.