Main Street Chillicothe is once again nationally and state accredited as a Main Street community following a program visit from representatives of the National Main Street Center and Missouri Main Street Connection.
A news release from the Missouri Main Street Connection says accreditation is the highest level a downtown revitalization program can achieve. To receive national and state accreditation status, a community must meet or exceed the 10-point criteria established by the National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The criteria cover various aspects of revitalization work that help create a sustainable, community-driven Main Street program. The criteria ensure broad-based community support for the program, a strong historic preservation ethic, active board of directors and committees, and other technical aspects that help the program function at a high level.
The accreditation process includes a self-evaluation and submission of materials from the program that support work for each criterion and a site visit for meetings with program staff, board, committee members, and city officials.
The Missouri Main Street Connection reports that Main Street Chillicothe saw a public and private investment of $360,417 in the historic district in 2018 from 33 projects. The district saw a net gain of five new businesses and an averaged of 46.5 new jobs.
Volunteers for Main Street Chillicothe also donated 4,902 hours of their time.
