DOWNTOWN HAMMOND NAMED 2022 GREAT AMERICAN MAIN STREET AWARD SEMIFINALISTS
Downtown Hammond is one of eight communities selected as a semifinalist for the 2022 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) from Main Street America. Selected by a national jury of Main Street professionals and leaders in the fields of community and economic development and historic preservation, GAMSA semifinalists exemplify the power of the Main Street Approach™ to transform downtowns and neighborhood business districts.
“The Great American Main Street Award is the highest honor within the field of commercial district management,” said Patrice Frey, President and CEO of Main Street America. “These eight semifinalists are shining examples of the kind of transformation that is possible when using the Main Street Approach. These programs have brought renewed vibrancy to their communities and sparked impressive preservation-based revitalization.”
Together, the eight GAMSA semifinalists have brought in over $139 million in public investment and more than half a billion dollars in private investment, generated 3,277 jobs, opened 844 new businesses, rehabbed 2,186 buildings, and logged 260,773 volunteer hours since their programs’ inceptions.
“As one of the first of four Main Street programs established in Louisiana, we are thrilled to see Hammond’s recognition as a GAMSA semifinalist. The hard work of the Hammond Downtown Development District, city, and its citizens exemplify the impact of an incremental, yet sustained path of community revitalization,” said Louisiana’s Main Street Director, Ray Scriber.
“With over a 35 year commitment to the Main Street approach, Downtown Hammond now boasts a vital historic commercial district. We owe the inspiring transformation we see on our Main Street today to the dedication our businesses, partner organizations, volunteers, and our amazing community,” Hammond Downtown Development District Director, Chelsea Tallo Little.
GAMSA semifinalists were selected from a nationwide pool of accredited Main Street America applicants based on their successful and innovative uses of the Main Street Approach™. Criteria for winning include: strength of the Main Street program in spurring community transformation, commitment to historic preservation, innovative programming, implementation of cross-sector partnerships, community outreach and stakeholder engagement, and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. More than 100 communities have been recognized as winners since the award’s inception in 1995.
GAMSA winners will be announced on May 16, 2022 at the Main Street Now Conference in Richmond, VA.
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ABOUT MAIN STREET AMERICA
Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for 40 years. Today it is a network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, Inc., a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit mainstreet.org.
ABOUT MAIN STREET LOUISIANA
Louisiana Main Street is a Main Street America™ Coordinating Program. As a Main Street America™ Coordinating Program, Louisiana Main Street helps to lead a powerful, grassroots network consisting of over 40 Coordinating Programs committed to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. For more information, visit https://www.crt.state.la.us/cultural-development/historic-preservation/main-street/.
ABOUT HAMMOND DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT
The Hammond Downtown Development District has maintained Hammond’s National Main Street accreditation since 1984. utilized the Main Street approach for community revitalization since 1984. Our district has experienced over $20M in public-private investments over the past eight years and is home to over 250 businesses. For more information, visit
https://www.dddhammond.com/.
