By: Owner/Publisher Thomas Palmer, 1808Delaware
This is Part Two of a look at the arrival of the national Main Street program in downtown Delaware. Part One can be read here.
In the summer of 1998, after several months of meetings, the Board of Directors of Downtown Delaware, Inc. (DDI) decided the time had come to hire paid staff for the new program. At the time, the board was largely composed of downtown business leaders, including executives from Hilborn Insurance, the Little Brown Jug Restaurant, Delaware County Bank, and others including the City of Delaware.
The board created the position of Downtown Coordinator and solicited applications from across the area. If memory serves, there were three finalists, with interviews taking place at the Delaware Area Chamber of Commerce offices.
At that time, I was serving as Board President of Main Street Galion, one of Ohio’s three original, official Main Street programs. In just three years, we had secured the first two of an eventual five $400,000 downtown revitalization grants through the Ohio Department of Development, each of which generated an equal amount in local private investment. Over a 10-year period in Galion, more than $22 million in total public and private investment was realized.
I was offered and accepted the position and began my work with DDI in late summer. My office was located in space provided by the Chamber of Commerce, then housed in the Hotel Blee building at the corner of Winter and Union streets. At the time, the building also housed the Delaware County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
My first months with DDI were spent gaining an understanding not only of the business environment in downtown Delaware, but also of the local political and civic landscape. I made a point of meeting with business leaders and property owners every day, walking up and down Sandusky and Winter streets and talking with merchants. My goal was always to bring something to offer rather than ask for something each time: information about grants and resources, opportunities to attend workshops sponsored by Heritage Ohio and others, ideas for marketing, and more.
During this time, I also met with local civic leaders. I was one of the first to welcome the new City Manager, Tom Homan, after his arrival, and I also met with the President of Ohio Wesleyan. I spoke before both the Delaware County Commissioners and the Delaware Rotary Club.
Over the following weeks, I created downtown Delaware’s first newsletter, as well as the city’s first distributable brochure featuring a tour of sites and buildings associated with President Rutherford B. Hayes. That fall, we held the first official downtown event, which included a “secret city”-style tour on the second and third floors of several downtown buildings, along with mini-concerts in front of key businesses.
In the next post, I will look at the marketing and events that followed, and what led to a phone call that would shape what came next. I will also where that call led—the place where Main Street first stepped into Delaware.
