Marion, like many other small towns in Alabama, boasts a rich and unique historical background. With the help of a local non-profit organization, Renaissance Marion, and its recent acceptance into the Main Street Alabama program, Marion’s past will be celebrated once more.
Renaissance Marion was formed by a board of local community members for the purpose of implementing change and improving the physical appearance of Marion. Executive Director Chris Joiner was hired by Renaissance Marion in August of 2016 to identify what the priorities of the group should be. After meeting with over a hundred community individuals, Joiner and Renaissance Marion prioritized three points of focus: economic development, infrastructure, and community relationships and engagement. A large group of community members was invited to discuss a program they believed to be a great opportunity for Marion—Main Street Alabama. This group included many prominent citizens, including pastors of local churches, principals of local schools, and even the Mayor. After agreeing that the program would be a perfect fit in the plan to best restore Marion, Joiner then presented the program to the Renaissance Marion board. They later approved the program and agreed to move forward. Joiner states that in August 2016, Main Street Alabama coordinators and experts were brought in from out of state to meet with members of Marion’s community. Forums were held to ask these members exactly what they wanted to see in their town.
“How Main Street works is that it enables people to implement the changes they want to see in their community,” Joiner states. “It’s their opportunity to give feedback.”
After a lengthy application process, it was announced that Marion had been accepted into the program. In January 2017, Renaissance Marion held an open session at Marion Military Institute that community members could attend and hear more about Marion’s involvement in the restoration program. Over 150 people from the community showed their support and attended the session. The massive turnout signaled to Renaissance Marion that Marion was ready to move forward.
While only in its first year, Main Street Marion has already begun to bring Marion’s downtown area back to life. The program features four different committees, each focusing on a different aspect of the town’s revitalization process. These divisions are promotion, design, economic vitality, and organization. Main Street has already completed various tasks such as gallery openings and working with local businesses to clean and refurbish storefronts. Window treatments featuring information on historical figures and businesses, landscaping projects, and even social events such as Jazz on the Square, which took place September 24, are just a few of the plans in the works for the downtown area.
Through promotion of local businesses and historic sites, such as the Women’s Hall of Fame, the Military Hall of Honor, and the Lincoln Normal School’s Museum, Marion’s tourism market can begin to grow over time. “One thing that attracted me to the program was that they work to revitalize historic downtown regions,” Joiner said.
As of the writing of this article, Main Street Marion is waiting on a strategic revitalization plan for the downtown area, a huge step toward their goals for future expansion. Once this plan is obtained, Main Street can begin to systematically expand their organization and move on to larger matters such as helping local businesses grow, helping local property and business owners renovate, and, most importantly, bring commerce into the downtown district. These plans could eventually aid in attracting new businesses to the region and may even help local people open shop.
Once the strategic revitalization plan has been received, Main Street Marion will then begin to implement projects moving into 2018. Members of the community, including students at Judson College and Marion Military Institute, may begin to get involved in the town’s restoration process. Planning opportunities for volunteer work and events, such as Jazz on the Square, will ensure much-needed community cooperation.
Joiner said, “People need to realize that while the city and Main Street Marion are putting this on, it’s going to take everybody in Marion telling their friends, telling their family, helping to push this. We all need to be recruiting people to come see the history and richness that is Marion.”