RWU Professor, Students To Present Woonsocket Main Street Plan

Roger Williams University Professor Jeremy Wells and 50 of his students will make their case for using the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street Approach in Woonsocket tonight, 6:30 p.m. at the Museum of Work and Culture.  

Wells and his students, who have been studying the downtown Woonsocket/Main Street area, chose the Main Street Approach, "...because no other downtown revitalization approach has such a long track record of success, information  and support," Wells wrote in a recent release.

Roger Williams' assistance comes via a pilot program from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) marshaling the university's Community Partnerships Center on the city's languishing downtown center. Mayor Leo Fontaine was able to enter Woonsocket in the progam after speaking to Gov. Lincoln Chafee about his efforts to partner the city with a regional university. The governor was putting together the pilot program together at the time. 

Wells said that in the 30 years since the Main Street Approach was created, 2,000 communities have implemented the program, generating more than $49 billion in investment in traditional downtowns. There are also 37 statewide coordinating Main Street programs, seven citywide programs (including a very active and successful program in Boston), and two regional programs.

The Boston program was instituted by then-councilman (now Boston Mayor) Thomas Menino in 1983 in the Roslindale neighborhood, which suffered from disenvestment and deteriorating buildings. Within three years, the area saw 73 facade changes, 43 commercial building renovations, 29 business gains and 132 net new jobs, a total investment of more than $5 million. 

In Boston, the city used federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to fuel the program.

 "In putting together this report, my students interviewed a wide range of community leaders, business owners, and residents, held a community workshop, and analyzed all available existing data, including data from other class projects at Roger Williams University. Any recommendations are being made in context with the work that has already been done in downtown Woonsocket, with respect and recognition of the existing organizations that have been undertaking revitalization programs in the past decade," Wells wrote.

During the presentation, the students will provide an overview of the contents of their full report, which will be available as a downloadable PDF file to all interested stakeholders. The report will cover:

1. The Main Street Approach to revitalizing downtowns
2. Summary of all available data/reports on Woonsocket’s downtown
3. Recommended boundary for the Main Street program
4. Identification of and recommendations for cultural resources
5. Stakeholder identification and engagement 
6. Analysis and recommendations of the regulatory environment and parking 
7. Recommendations for establishing a strong organization to run a Main Street program, including a volunteer recruitment program
8. Economic restructuring plan that capitalizes on Woonsocket's existing assets
9. A plan for approaching design issues for the downtown
10. A plan for promoting downtown Woonsocket
11. A step-by-step recommended timeline and work plan for implementation of the Main Street program and benchmarks for assessing performance