A kickoff event celebrating Farmville, Va.'s designation as an official Virginia Main Street (VMS) community was held Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the j Fergeson gallery in Farmville.
The event, sponsored by Centra Southside Community Hospital, brought out a crowd that packed the building located on Main St. VMS staff presented the town with road signs signifying its designation as a Main Street Community and joined town officials in discussing the community's past and future revitalization efforts.
"This has been a long time coming," said Jimmy Johnson, president of Downtown Farmville. The process began in July 2010 when the town began to finish the second part of their downtown streetscaping plans.
Johnson went and spoke before a Farmville Town Council meeting in July to urge the council to look at more ways to improve downtown. Johnson credited some of the good press for bringing the issue of revitalizing downtown to light. That's when Dr. Charles Ross, vice president of Downtown Farmville and dean of the Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences, came aboard after seeing a news article about the cause. Ross then attended an August council meeting to express his views on the issue.
In September 2010, a meeting was held to get the word out to the community to help "revitalize our downtown and keep it strong." Johnson called the downtown area the "heart of the community."
The Downtown Farmville non-profit organization was formed and incorporated so the group could have a legal name and move forward. In February 2011, a forum was held to explain to downtown merchants what the Downtown Farmville initiative wanted to achieve. By that April, Buffalo Creek Music began sponsoring Open Mic Night at the Crute Stage in town.
Revitalization then kept occurring. Johnson had a plan to "spruce up" the Walker's Diner location next to the High Bridge Trail crossing. With that work completed, the downtown landscape was looking brighter. "That is one of the first visual projects that was completed," said Johnson. "And it was done with no money."
To get an idea of the responsibilities of the VMS program, Johnson and some others headed to Blackstone, Va., a VMS community, to meet with town officials there.
Operating up until then with very few funds, a budget was created, and the community answered the call with some $61,000 in donation money. On Aug. 15, Governor Bob McDonnell announced that Farmville had become the 25th official VMS community in the Commonwealth. McDonnell praised the VMS program, calling it a "proven model that uses limited state resources to support local strategies and leverage local resources." Farmville accepted the VMS title and began receiving services in October.
Farmville Town Manager Gerry Spates said the recognition from the VMS association is "an honor." He recognized the Downtown Farmville board and the town council and their efforts to make Farmville's entrance into the VMS program a reality.
"We are very excited about being a part of the Main Street program," Spates said. "This is a culmination of several years of enhancement projects in the downtown area."
Spates said the town grew 20 percent from 2000-2010 census years. He also said the town actually encompassed a population of over 100,000 as it acts as an economic hub for multiple counties. "In this economy, we all need to come together," he said
Jeff Sadler, VMS program manager, praised the evening's turnout. He said that large a crowd is "very rare" to see. In some of his encounters, he said only a handful of people have showed up to the dedication.
Sadler talked a bit about the history of the VMS program. He added that Farmville residents realize that the downtown area is not just a place to shop but the "heartbeat" of the community. He said VMS program's role is "to provide the best practices, the advice and the training."
Training took place in November for volunteers of Downtown Farmville. The recent training focused on volunteers' roles and responsibilities, setting priority goals for the next six to 12 months and assigning responsibilities for achieving these outcomes.
Kyle Meyer, the community representative for Farmville for VMS, said, "It's good to see the enthusiasm behind this. That's what it is going to make this work, all the right partners coming together at the right time."
For more information about local downtown revitalization efforts, contact Johnson at (434) 395-1089. To learn more about the Virginia Main Street Program, visit the VMS web page at www.dhcd.virginia.gov/mainstreet or call (804) 371-7030.
