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HISTORY
In
early 1983, the City of La Grande applied to the Oregon Downtown
Development Association and was selected as a "Mainstreet
City." Reasons cited were the buildings downtown, the identifiable
nature of the downtown district and its importance to the community,
and the public-private partnership developed by the National Trust
for Historic Preservation to stimulate downtown economic development
within the context of historic preservation in small cities. The
Mainstreet Program emerged in the 1970s as an "alternative"
urban renewal approach for cities wishing to preserve the integrity
of their downtown area.
And
it was successful—successful in more than 60 cities before
coming to Oregon, and now being used in 19 downtown areas in Oregon.
The reason for the success on the Mainstreet Program has been
its reliance on a broad approach to the economic development of
downtown—an approach that coordinates four areas: Promotion,
Design, Organization, and Economic Restructuring. The plan stresses
using a "balanced" approach utilizing these four activities.
La
Grande's version of the Mainstreet Program flourished until about
1995 when funding from transient room taxes through the City budget
were withdrawn. The Downtown Manager (a full time paid position)
and Administrative Assistant (part time) positions were eliminated.
From
1995 until January of 2001, the LGDDA was in decline as volunteerism
gradually lost steam. Office equipment, files, and boxes of unsold
downtown ornaments had been stored upstairs in Benchwarmers Pub
& Grill. Streetlamp lights were maintained, used each Christmas,
and were stored between uses in the Bohnenkamp Building (now Radio
Shack). LGDDA Board officers Todd Richmond (Chair), Shawna McKinnis
(Secretary) and Patti Hankel (Treas) were keeping the candles
burning. The treasury had dwindled to about $3000.
During
the summer of 2000, Doug Campbell (at the behest of the new co-owner
of MacGlassen's Stationery) organized a sidewalk sale which included
many of the downtown merchants. As things go, one thing led to
the next until in January of 2001 a series of meetings took place
at ERA Driggers & Associates that encouraged the Association
to revitalize. At least 23 businesses were represented at the
meetings and several of our City and County officials were present.
At the third meeting a new nine member Board was elected.
CURRENT
LGDDA BOARD MEMBERS
CHAIR Greg Johnson • Benj. Brown Books
VICE CHAIR Timothy Lucas • Bushwhack Graphics
TREASURER Doug Campbell • McGlasson’s Stationery
SECRETARY Sandi Gross • Claudson’s
Rod Sands • Sands Technical Services
Darcy Bloom • DRC Property Management
Donna Laurence
Zee Koza • New Day Enterprises
Steve Fund • Wolfpack Enterprises
EX OFFICIO
Bennie Moses • EOU
Colleen MacLeod • Union County
Janet Dodson • UCTourism
Judy Loudermilk • UC Chamber of Commerce
Gary Lillard • La Grande City Council
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