First series of site visits to be held Feb. 24-25, 2016

BILOXI, Miss. ~  Biloxi Main Street District was one of seven national programs selected as a demonstration site by the National Main Street Center, Inc. to carry out community revitalization and preservation based economic development techniques.

“Biloxi is just now, 10 years after Hurricane Katrina, recovering,” said Kay Miller, Main Street Director/Downtown Services Manager of Biloxi. “Downtown development has been in the works and the ‘Refresh’ project is beginning at the perfect time. Biloxi is soon to be very up and coming in the very close future.”

Kathy LaPlante, Senior Program Officer with the National Main Street Center, and Kennedy Smith, who is best known as the longest-serving director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Main Street Center, will be conducting the Biloxi Refresh program. 

Biloxi has invited local leaders to take part in the first two-day revitalization efforts, to plan and execute long-term strategic action, and effectively measure the outcome for downtown Biloxi.   

The two days will consist of a tour of the district and community, strategizing sessions with city officials and will close on Thursday with a Press Conference at Biloxi City Hall at 1 p.m.

The communities selected will receive 12 to 18 months of free hands-on technical and community assistance from experts nationwide, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

For more details of the nationwide refresh project and its upcoming role in the City of Biloxi, visit preservationation.org/mainstreet or mainstreetbiloxi.com.

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Biloxi Main Street is a designated program of the Mississippi Main Street Association and a nationally accredited program of Main Street America.
For more information, contact Biloxi Main Street at 228-435-6339 or visit www.mainstreetbiloxi.com.

The Mississippi Main Street Association is an economic development program based in historic preservation. MMSA is a member of the National Main Street Center and a program of the Mississippi Development Authority with many allied partners and investors. MMSA provides training and technical assistance based on the Main Street Four-Point Approach® - Organization, Promotion, Design and Economic Vitality - to 56 Main Street communities and network members in the state. Since 1993, MMSA has provided more than $4 billion in public and private re-investment back into Main Street communities. For more information, visit www.msmainstreet.com.

Main Street America™ has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years. Today it is a network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, that share both a commitment to place and to build stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Main Street America is a program of the National Main Street Center, a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit www.preservationnation.org/main-street.