Looking out over the square in Paulding, it’s obvious that business struggles to fill the old building’s surrounding the courthouse. Many owners don’t want to spend the money it takes to restore their storefronts to the original Main Street look.
Main Street, a program run through Heritage Ohio sent a team of experts to Paulding to walk the square and offer their expertise in downtown revitalization. The Main Street program has helped other communities like Paulding grow their downtown.
The rest of the night went really well. After the presentation, everyone went downstairs, got into groups and talked about all of the things that would be good to see happen in Paulding. Including a convenience store, brewery, coffee shop, more restaurants, a deli, walking signals, alley events, and more!
Jo Hamilton presented that many times when buildings do not have tenants, the owner will just put “For Rent” signs out front and have it all empty. But that is really not a great way to promote a building that can be leased. She then showed everyone how you can have a sign made that looks much better and says a lot more about the building such as, “This building is not empty! It’s full of Opportunity!” Then proceed to explain all the good features the structure has to offer.
Business owners can’t be afraid to bring in more business, thinking it’s competition to their own. In the long run it will be better for the community, business, and consumers. They also need to realize that cleaning it up and restoring it will be beneficial in
The four Main Street experts were Frances Jo Hamilton (goes by Jo) who was the director, Pearl-Jean Mabe who was in charge of marketing, Frank Quinn in charge of design, and Joyce Barrett in charge of economic vitality.
Mikayla Pieper, Paulding Chamber director stated, “Thank you to everyone who attended the public meeting on Monday night. The Main Street team was so impressed with the turn out,” Mikayla continued, “in fact, one team member said it was the largest turnout he’s seen for our size of community during his time with Main Street!”
The group also met with stakeholders for lunch on Monday and Tuesday morning. During this time, stakeholders got to ask a lot of questions, and in turn, the DART team asked a lot of questions as well. During their walk around downtown, the DART team mentioned that there aren’t any gaps in the downtown, meaning none of the building have been taken down. They saw this as a great starting point, and saw the opportunity in a lot of the buildings around the square. The team will be back in Paulding in about 30-45 days with a more comprehensive plan. Until then, stakeholders were given things to research and were tasked with things to get the ball rolling.
There is a lot going on in Paulding right now and you have a chance to be a part of the solution! Downtown revitalization needs to be a community effort and telling from the turn out on Monday night, the people of Paulding are ready and excited for the changes to come!
