TEXARKANA -- To get downtown vacant business buildings to at least look workable, Texarkana is considering whether to follow a plan San Antonio recently carried out.
During its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, Main Street Texarkana board of directors listened to a report by Main Street Texarkana Executive Director Ina McDowell about a recent vacant business building plan adopted by one of Texas' largest cities.
McDowell said San Antonio places its vacant buildings on the Internet to make them more visible to potential buyers and renters. To aid this effort, the city also puts up some maintenance and repair money to keep the buildings looking rent-worthy.
During the meeting, Texarkana Mayor Ruth Penney Bell asked whether the city might allow individual merchants such as crafters, quilters and antique sellers to lease space in vacant downtown buildings to showcase the structures' potential commercial viability.
McDowell replied that Main Street Texarkana is considering implementing the Better Block program it enacted last year. The program enables small-time merchants and vendors to open shop temporarily in or near vacant downtown buildings.
McDowell also said two local engineering firms have applied to help Main Street Texarkana redesign the downtown post office square into a more tourist-friendly site -- a plan known as Courthouse Square Initiative as coined and initiated last year by the Texas Historical Commission.
McDowell said the organization will consider hiring one of the firms to submit re-engineered drawings of the site, which might look more inviting.
To pay for engineering fees, Main Street Texarkana may use part of $70,000 ($35,000 contributed by the twin cities of Texarkana, Ark., and Texarkana, Texas) earmarked for downtown structural improvements.
In other business, America's Farmers Grow Communities presented Main Street Texarkana with a $2,500 contribution for the organization's efforts to revitalize downtown.
NW News on 02/23/2015