Burlington Reporter

Like many downtown districts in smaller cities, Mebane has seen its vitality wane -- but now it’s part of the state’s Main Street Program, which intends to pump some new life into the area.

“We’re very excited about formalizing the Main Street program in the city,” Cy Stober, planning director of Mebane, told Mebane Enterprise. “This has been the result of a lot of planning and intentional effort. We’re doing our level best to leverage the planning tools that we have to service its needs.”

North Carolina has had past successes with the program, which has been in place since 1980. Shelby, New Bern, Salisbury, Tarboro and Washington were the first towns to get on board with the economic development program that started in six states but has since spread to 46.

Stober credits City of Mebane Main Street Coordinator Diane Young with keeping the city’s sights on moving forward.

“She has been able to hit the ground running, being nimble with meeting remotely, and building consensus through those tools, particularly Zoom,” he told Mebane Enterprise. “When we’ve met in-person, there hasn’t been a need to take a few steps back or hit the reset button.”

For her part, Young attributed the program’s success to the fact that it treats revitalization as something more than a quick fix.

“It is a long-term commitment to having an infrastructure in place to manage the downtown district on a full-time basis moving forward,” Young said, according to Mebane Enterprise. “Incremental successes will lead to long-term results.”

Mebane can take advantage of the expertise the program has brought to other communities as it moves forward with its plans, former City Council member Patty Philipps said.

“I think the Main Street Downtown Associate Community program has provided us a lot of guidance and a really good kick-start to getting us on the right path to bringing those tools to downtown,” Stober told Mebane Enterprise. “And I think the Main Street Program, with its opportunities, will do more as we continue to support innovation and entrepreneurship in our downtown community."

One goal, Mebane City Manager Chris Rollins said, is to create a synergy between various programs.

“If we can get Destination Downtown, Mebane Merchants and the new Main Street Program to come together, they can take it to new heights,” Rollins said, according to Mebane Enterprise. "I don’t like to jump out and start sprinting in a race. I want to do this methodically and put together a good program that will hopefully last for generations."

Mebane’s leaders are on track to achieve great things with the downtown district, Young said.

“The city of Mebane has shown a strong commitment to revitalizing the downtown district, and I see this level of support being sustained as Mebane becomes a designated NC Main Street Program,” Young told Mebane Enterprise. "Downtown Mebane has many of the ingredients that will contribute to a successful Main Street Program, including low vacancy rates, strong city support, quality retail and renewed investment in the downtown district."

Of course, it takes a buy-in from businesses in the district, too, and Mebane has that.

“There is a great opportunity to reintroduce our endearing and historic downtown area with all of our quaint shops and friendly folks,” Dan Shannon of Edward Jones Investments told Mebane Enterprise. “Main Street USA will help bring additional businesses, expand our diversity, share our rich culture and arts and provide a family-friendly community.”

Stober said Shannon and others have provided helpful feedback as the city has gotten a handle on what it wants to look like in the future.

“In terms of the health of downtown through COVID, I think that all of us at the city would give credit to the business owners and the downtown community for being creative and utilizing online tools like Facebook Marketplace and online sales, having fun with the idea that you can invite in customers through online promotions and getting the word out online for in-person promotions to draw in more customers and get through this very difficult time,” Stober told Mebane Enterprise.

That flexibility and feedback has let the downtown improvement team stay abreast of what’s working and what else can be done.

“I think it’s been a two-pronged approach,” Stober said, according to Mebane Enterprise. “I think the best thing the city has done is perhaps worked a little bit more quietly in the background to build the programmatic infrastructure for a successful Main Street Program, as the downtown community has continued to use a lot of really creative and smart ideas about how to invite in more customers during the pandemic.”