Writer: Catherine Edgemon
Published June 18, 2021
The Catoosa County News
LaFayette is resuming its downtown development efforts after losing its Main Street designation and then downtown affiliate status.
The city is currently advertising for a Main Street coordinator. This individual will work in partnership and coordination with consultant Elizabeth Wells, whom the city hired to manage economic development initiatives. She said the coordinator’s job posting will remain open until the “right candidate” is found.
“We currently do not have a Main Street designation,” Wells said. “We wanted to rebuild the program from scratch with all of the new and exciting things that we have going on in the city.”
Wells said the city’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is “doing some very forward thinking, planning and investing,” and the city will soon learn if it has been accepted as a new start-up program. If not accepted as a start-up, the city will follow Main Street’s principles and participate as an affiliate program.
Main Street is a historic-preservation-based, downtown redevelopment program established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980 and is managed by the Trust’s subsidiary, the National Main Street Center. Programs maintain their annual accreditation by meeting benchmarks in 10 different areas and follow Main Street’s trademark Four Point Approach: organization, promotion, design and economic vitality (business enhancement).
LaFayette was designated as a Main Street program in 2007, following a rigorous 18-month start-up process that included community education and building a broad base of support. The city lost its Main Street designation a few years ago, dropped back to affiliate status and then lost its affiliate status “due to failure to meet both national and state requirements,” according to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Office of Downtown Development.
Earlier this year city officials announced the city’s selection for a grant to develop a downtown master plan with assistance from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. The Lyndhurst Foundation, Georgia Municipal Association and Georgia Cities Foundation are funding the plan.
The Main Street coordinator would be a key position to guide the new efforts.
Wells said she and City Manager David Hamilton will conduct the interviews and then conduct a group interview with some of the DDA members. The city manager will make the final decision in the hiring process and supervise the employee once hired.
The job posting states a major focus for candidates’ education and experience is preferred in “public administration, business administration, historic preservation, marketing, public relations, planning, nonprofit administration, economic and/or community development.”
Wells has also worked as an economic development consultant for Rossville.
