Molalla Pioneer Online

Local businesses, community members putting heads together to revive Molalla's downtown

Last week's community summit draws about 85 people interested in downtown revitalization effort

• By: Bethany Monroe  
• Published: 2/2/2010 2:46:47 PM

Photo By: Bethany MonroeMolalla Main Street Program
TEAM volunteers hope the Main Street Program will help jump-start Molalla's downtown.

Last Thursday’s Community Summit, hosted by Team for Economic Action in Molalla (TEAM), drew about 85 local business owners, service club members, city and county officials and others to discuss efforts for revitalizing downtown Molalla.

Molalla has launched a Main Street Program with locals volunteering on four committees: Organization, Promotion, Design and Economic Restructuring, to spearhead the effort and they are looking for more to join them.

“I’m hoping it will yield more participation in the committees,” said Amy Koski, TEAM’s economic develop coordinator and downtown manager. “We’ve done a lot of planning, but now we’re moving into implementation mode.”

The program’s goal is to create high-quality, livable and sustainable communities, Koski said.

“The one thing we don’t want to do is copy other communities. We want to keep Molalla, Molalla,” said Chris Cook, chair for Main Street Molalla’s Design Committee. “But we want to freshen it up. We want to bring people downtown again … The last thing we want is for people to come into the community and see storefronts with boarded up windows.”

At one time, downtowns were a hub for local activity, but suburban development has created auto-oriented societies and shopping malls, with residents no longer depending on their local downtown businesses for all their supplies, Koski said.

“The good news is that the Main Street approach is a proven approach,” Koski said. “It has been used in over 1,600 communities in 45 states.”

As a witness to the program’s success, Koski invited Jeb Bladine, president and publisher of the News-Register Publishing Company in McMinnville, to give a presentation at the summit, discussing McMinnville’s participation in the Main Street Program. Bladine was among the community members to organize Main Street efforts in McMinnville 25 years ago when the city was experiencing 18 percent vacancy in its downtown buildings.

“We like to say in McMinnville that we were an overnight success – 10 years later,” Bladine said. “All of the sudden we looked like a different downtown, but it was 10 to 15 years later. It’s a long process.”

Although it takes time, Bladine encouraged Molalla residents to stick with it.

“I want you to know that you’re doing exactly what works,” Bladine said.

Ilene Waldorf, a lifelong community resident and member of the Organization Committee, said her group manages finances and fundraising for the Molalla Main Street Program and orchestrates volunteers.

“We’re the cheerleaders of the Main Street Program and are responsible for getting people excited about the program,” Waldorf said.

Chris Michalopoulos of Molalla Communications Company is serving as the Promotions Committee chair and said his group is currently working to develop a logo for the Molalla Main Street Program. The committee has also developed brochures and is working on a Web site for the program in addition to a branding and marketing campaign for Molalla. One idea they hope to launch is to organize monthly downtown events featuring live music, movies in the park and even babysitting services.

While the ultimate goal is to fill the vacancies with new tenants, in the meantime TEAM is encouraging local business owners, including small, home-based businesses, to provide window displays to add some life to the empty windows, said Chris Cook of the Design Committee. They are also working to add signs to direct passersby to local businesses.

Ed Stafford, co-chair of the Economic Restructuring Committee, said their committee developed the shopper and business surveys currently being collected. The deadline has been extended through Feb. 5 and community members are encouraged to offer their feedback by completing the surveys online at www.cityofmolalla.com. The survey is also available in Spanish.

Added support to the Molalla Main Street Program could be provided through the Ford Institute Leadership Program. Gary Stewart, director of leadership services for the Ford program, said it is a leadership program that has already been offered in 64 other communities in the state.

The program offers leadership training over the course of five years, encouraging community collaboration.

“There is no cost at all to the community because the Ford Family Foundation covers all the costs,” Stewart said.

The Ford Institute will be selecting communities for its Spring 2011 program in March of this year. To be considered for the program, Molalla must submit a letter of interest signed by various organizations within the community.

Koski is looking for local organizations interested in signing the letter and also individuals looking to get involved with a Molalla Main Street Program committee. She may be reached at 503-829-5003 or temo@molalla.net.

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