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| National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | Main Street Center |
| Established | 1980s |
| Location | United States |
| Parent organization | National Trust for Historic Preservation |
| Focus | Historic preservation, downtown revitalization, economic development |
National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street Center The Main Street Center is the National Trust for Historic Preservation's national program for downtown revitalization and heritage conservation. It synthesizes methods from the National Park Service, Preservation Green Lab, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Getty Conservation Institute, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and National Endowment for the Arts to support local preservation-based economic development. Its initiatives intersect with federal, state, and municipal efforts such as the National Register of Historic Places, National Historic Landmarks Program, Certified Local Government Program, Economic Development Administration, and state historic preservation offices like the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
The Main Street Center traces roots to the private-sector revitalization movement led by groups such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and municipal programs inspired by Jane Jacobs and Daniel Burnham urbanist principles. Early pilots were influenced by the Historic American Buildings Survey, the Hauptman-Woodward Institute, and community development experiments in cities like Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Galveston, Texas, Boston, Massachusetts, and Seattle, Washington. During the 1980s the Center formalized methodology alongside partners including the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's neighborhood initiatives. Over subsequent decades collaborations expanded with organizations such as Main Street America, National Main Street Center (independent), Local Initiatives Support Corporation, National League of Cities, and state Main Street programs like Texas Main Street Program and Virginia Main Street. The Center's archive documents case studies from communities including Tulsa, Oklahoma, Asheville, North Carolina, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Portland, Oregon, and Rochester, New York.
The Center's mission aligns with preservation tenets promoted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the American Planning Association, the American Institute of Architects, and the Urban Land Institute. Programming targets small business retention, facade rehabilitation, heritage tourism, and design guidelines, drawing on best practices from the National Park Service’s preservation briefs and scholarship from institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, University of Georgia College of Environment and Design, and Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture. Core programs have included technical assistance, training workshops, certification for local Main Street managers, and research partnerships with the Brookings Institution, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Federal Reserve Bank, and Smithsonian Institution for economic impact analysis. The Center has also run pilot initiatives with the Environmental Protection Agency's brownfields program and redevelopment efforts supported by the Economic Development Administration.
The Center operates within the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s affiliate network, coordinating with state historic preservation offices, municipal planning departments, chambers of commerce such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and philanthropic partners including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and William Penn Foundation. Staff collaborate with professional associations like the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, National Main Street Center, American Historical Association, and National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers. Governance aligns with practices from the International Council on Monuments and Sites and reporting interfaces with federal programs including the National Register of Historic Places and the Certified Local Government Program. The Center also partners with universities—for example, exchanges with University of Oregon, University of Michigan, Georgia State University, and Cleveland State University—and civic NGOs like Preservation Action and National Trust Community Investment Corporation.
The Main Street Four-Point Approach—originally codified in programs linked to Main Street America and state Main Street initiatives—emphasizes Design, Organization, Promotion, and Economic Vitality. Design work references standards from the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and technical guidance from the National Park Service. Organization practices mirror strategies from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and United Way-style volunteer mobilization. Promotion strategies have drawn on tourism frameworks from the Smithsonian Institution and marketing guidance comparable to campaigns by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and National Geographic Society. Economic Vitality programs coordinate financing mechanisms used by the Small Business Administration, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and tax incentives similar to the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives.
The Center has influenced thousands of downtown revitalizations including high-profile examples in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Old Town Alexandria, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, French Quarter (New Orleans), Historic District of Charleston, and numerous smaller Main Street communities such as Marblehead, Massachusetts, Dover, Delaware, Zionsville, Indiana, and Havre de Grace, Maryland. Impact assessments cite economic outcomes studied by the Brookings Institution, preservation metrics from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and heritage tourism research by the National Endowment for the Arts. Case studies reference rehabilitation projects using funding sources like the Historic Tax Credit, brownfields grants from the Environmental Protection Agency, and facade improvement loans administered by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and local economic development authorities.
Critics from groups including National Trust for Historic Preservation’s internal reviewers, scholars at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Princeton University, and community activists associated with organizations like Preservation Greensboro and Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund have argued that Main Street strategies can lead to gentrification, displacement, and loss of affordable housing. Analyses by the Urban Institute, Brookings Institution, and researchers at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy have highlighted tensions between preservation incentives and equitable development, citing policy debates involving the National Affordable Housing Act, local zoning boards, and historic district commissions such as those in San Francisco, Chicago, and New Orleans. Other challenges identified by the Government Accountability Office and the Inspector General include funding variability, coordination with state agencies, and measuring long-term socioeconomic outcomes.
Funding sources for Main Street Center initiatives have included grants and contracts from federal agencies like the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, Economic Development Administration, and Department of Housing and Urban Development, philanthropic support from the Ford Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and local fundraising through chambers of commerce, community foundations such as the Cleveland Foundation and Boston Foundation, and capital from community development financial institutions like Enterprise Community Partners and LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation). Tax incentives relied upon include the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives and state credit programs administered by state historic preservation offices. Program sustainability has also depended on partnerships with banks participating in the Community Reinvestment Act and investment tools promoted by the National Trust Community Investment Corporation.