MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Main Street Morgantown is ready to continue efforts to bring more people downtown.
Collaborations with local organizations and programs to entice commercial investment are some of the actions that were presented by Main Street Morgantown Executive Director Amy Loomis in front of the Monongalia County Commission Wednesday. As part of Main Street Morgantown’s annual report to the commission, she included the implementation of community programs that present downtown as an economically viable area.
“We’ll be refreshing our branding, developing our marketing plan, communicating strategically, and then providing stakeholder programming that helps merchants and property owners meet and talk with each other and grow together,” said Loomis on some of what was presented in their annual report.
The first area of focus that Loomis presented to the commission was Main Street Morgantown’s efforts to address litter and safety concerns. This includes continued development of a downtown safety plan and communications with city officials and community members to establish a trash storage pilot on Walnut Street and monthly garbage collectives. The hope is that either one or both of the programs will be implemented by the end of 2023.
“We’re also developing a recurring litter pickup volunteer program, so we can have volunteer pickups every month,” said Loomis. “We’re also continuing to work on our safety plan with a safety index,” she said.
To entice commercial investments, Loomis also elaborated on efforts that have already been seen around downtown. She mentioned the sprucing up of vacant properties to entice investment on High Street and ongoing discussions with the Morgantown Area Partnership to create easier avenues for companies to purchase supplies. The idea for Main Street Morgantown is to continue building relationships that can lead to long-term economic prospects.
“We’re activating those empty storefronts by cleaning them up and adding lights and imagery,” said Loomis. “Just making them seem like hopeful places that an entrepreneur may want to put their business in,” she said.
Main Street Morgantown’s prominent goal for the rest of 2023 is to improve the image of Downtown Morgantown for local businesses. Loomis hopes that with continued financial contributions from the Monongalia County Commission, the City of Morgantown, and local organizations, plans to increase downtown vibrancy can move forward as city officials work to improve safety concerns. A combination of efforts that can present downtown as a premier commercial destination for Morgantown.
“We really envision downtown as an all-season place, as a day or night place that is safe and welcoming,” Loomis said. “And we really want to make sure that we facilitate that, but also make sure that we have the storytelling that supports those positive narratives,” she said.