Summerville Main Street

Vision

All citizens of Summerville and Chattooga County will have a greater appreciation, respect and understanding for the historic city center. The central business district will be valued as a vibrant economic and cultural district and a vital contributor to the community’s heritage and identity. The community will be better because of the partnerships, investments and enhanced sense of place. Downtown will have an enriched quality of life in which to live, work, and play.

Mission 

To manage and enhance the development of downtown as the cultural, historic, social and economic center of the community.

With the Mission in the forefront, Summerville Main Street should develop a work plan of desired goals each year. The Plan is a list of specific goals to be accomplished over the next year and serves as an achievement benchmark for progress. These goals are developed using input from community leaders, government officials, committee members, property owners, and others within the downtown district during the planning session. The Board is charged with implementing the plan and is comprised of committees that carry out the purpose, function and management of Summerville Main Street. This document gives insight to the structure of committee detail.

The organizational structure of Summerville Main Street consists of four committees with five to seven members per committee and the Executive Committee consisting of the Officers of the Main Street Board. These committees follow the four-point approach to downtown revitalization as outlined by the National Main Street Program (organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring). The Organization Committee has been renamed Outreach in an effort to more clearly represent the committee intent. The top economic focus for the next several years will be the addition of businesses and the revitalization of the downtown business district, in order to make Summerville a tourism destination. These priorities require partnerships, opportunity, funding and time, and therefore are ongoing items for the 2017 plan. Summerville Main Street will work with all agencies, commissions and others to ensure cooperation and communication.

By the end of 2018 the downtown Master Plan is to be completed and ready for presentation. The Plan should focus more strategically in setting and accomplishing future goals that fall primarily to the Economic Development and Design Committees. A one year strategy outlined in the plan will include five areas: downtown image improvement; working on Historic Preservation, streamlining the process for opening a business, tourism development, and business recruitment; all of which have been incorporated into the 2017 work plan.