Council Accepts Re-Thinking Main Street Report

Members of two local nonprofits shared the results of nearly a year’s worth of data collected about how the city could “re-think” Main Street.

Chris Mulleavey of Hoyle, Tanner Associates, Jessica Eshleman, the executive director of Main Street Concord, and Jennifer Kretovic, the executive director of Concord 2020, spoke to the council on July 11, about the 107-page report and 37-page supplement.

The plan, according to Mulleavey, was to use the data gathered to see if there was motivation improve and reactivate downtown Concord, by building up a vibrant downtown, widening the sidewalks, and making it more user friendly.

“’Re-thinking Main Street’ is so much more than a beautification project,” he said. “This is about making an investment in downtown to address fundamental inefficiencies that will position Concord for success for the next 50 years.”

According to the data, the report says that downtown is healthy but fragile and declining. Mulleavey said the downtown district represented 25 percent of the total assessed value of the city. A build up of downtown will also assist in increasing business opportunities in other parts of the city.

The economic downturn may have assisted in making downtown fragile, according to Eshleman, but the problems were already there. Store vacancies from 2005 through 2007 continue to remain vacant. Property values are dropping.

But it’s not all bad news. Restaurants report that business is good and according to polling of business owners, 42 reported that their businesses were healthy while another 34 stated that business was about the same as previously or in decline. Businesses that stayed open past 5 p.m. and were open on Sunday also said businesses was good, proving that Concord had a seven day a week economy.

Parking was still a problem, according to business owners. However, Eshleman noted that studies showed that business owners are still parking in downtown spaces, essentially strangling their businesses by blocking off access to parking for customers, who make up about a third of the parking clientele.

“There’s no delicate way to say this,” she said. “Some merchants and their employees continue to park on Main Street and so perpetuate the problem that is their greatest concern.”

Eshleman said both the Capitol Commons and Smile buildings would bring in tens of millions in new value to the downtown and she pointed to the Employment Security building on South Main Street as a potential spot for new redevelopment.

The most controversial part of the plan was a proposal in the “community consensus” design to lower the number of lanes

Kretovic presented some other revitalized downtowns including Keene, Littleton, and Manchester that were recovering from new development and tax base growth. The redevelopment funds and changes also inspire others to spruce up their properties, she said. Kretovic said any new investments in the downtown would expand on other investments made, such as the revitalization of Eagle Square.

Kretovic said more than 60 downtown businesses supported the proposed changes presented in the plan. The price tag was about $7.8 million, she said.

“The re-thinking consensus design will restore pride in our community,” she said, “and give people a reason to be here.”

In the report, officials asked the city to start to pursue funding opportunities and implement the project in stages. It also suggested restriping Main Street to three lanes and experiment with the proposal for six months.

Before taking a vote on accepting the report, Mayor Jim Bouley stressed the importance that nothing was being done to change downtown by accepting the vote, it was simply accepting the report.

The council voted unanimously to accept the report.