It's a good time for Main Street Texarkana, and the Twin Cities' biggest advocate for economic development through historic preservation - especially downtown - sees even better times ahead.
Major projects grab headlines, but positive changes are also happening on a smaller scale downtown, Main Street Board President James Bright and Executive Director Ina McDowell said in recent interviews. It all adds up to a rebirth of Texarkana's most visible historic neighborhood.
This year is Main Street's 15th active in Texarkana, and McDowell has seen a lot of changes during her tenure.
"We've all seen a lot of progress, and certainly it's picked up in the last few years," she said.
"What's most obvious that we're seeing is the work at the post office and courthouse, as well as the Hotel Grim, the former Texarkana National Bank building and the Regions Bank building. And those are such large projects that those in themselves, once they are fully occupied, are going to bring a tremendous amount of traffic into our downtown.
"So we're seeing more small businesses, and that's a lot of what I do is work with individuals that are interested in opening a business or an expansion. For instance, Beauty Barr that just moved into a new location."
Bright, who works as the Texarkana Gazette's general manager, also sees the transformation.
"You can see a pretty seismic shift in businesses', local residents' and Texarkana in general's opinion of downtown, and that's leading to a lot of interest in development and new possibilities. Not just in the realm of events - of course, we're always examining event opportunities and new things we can bring to the community - but also in new retail and new restaurant opportunities and new entertainment spaces.
"I've only been in Texarkana for a little over two years, but my understanding is downtown has struggled somewhat. And I think that time is passing and what we're seeing is almost a renaissance of the downtown district," Bright said.
Main Street supports downtown redevelopment in various ways, including participation in downtowntx.org, a website that spotlights properties available in a number of Texas downtowns. The Texarkana page lists more than 20 buildings, and Main Street also organizes "Imagine the Possi-bilities" tours of the properties to show them off to potential investors.
"We do grants. We do low-interest revolving loans. We provide free renderings, if you're looking for an idea of how a business might fit in an old building downtown. We work with individuals to do that," McDowell said.
"We've got several in the works right now, even people that have been in downtown for a while and they want to bring their building back to what it looked like originally as much as possible. And so we've got some of that happening even on Broad Street right now that's starting to kick in."
She pointed to recent wins for downtown such as KLFI-TV's pending relocation to a renovated former bus station at North State Line Avenue and West Fourth Street, as well as Main Street's funding of a new paint job for Mission Texarkana, at West Fourth and Elm streets.
Main Street has been as challenged as everyone else by the COVID-19 pandemic, but McDowell sees a silver lining.
"People have been staying closer to home, and they're taking time to explore and realize what we have right here in our downtown. So I think that's really been an advantage for us. While COVID has not been a good thing, we have definitely seen some positives with our community and how people are going back downtown and supporting our local businesses," she said.
Main Street's fundraising took a hit last year when its signature event, Dine on the Line, had to be canceled because of the pandemic. The event raises money by selling tickets to a dinner on the center of North State Line Avenue downtown. The Main Street board is looking at ways to bring back Dine on the Line in some form this October.
Meanwhile, other fundraisers are in the works, including an outdoor art event slated for May 21 downtown featuring local artists doing their work in public.
"We've sent out letters, we're going to do some cold calling, and hopefully start seeing some revenue coming back into Main Street. We're examining some new events and how that that could potentially bring income to Main Street but also provide entertainment for the community," Bright said, adding that the annual Christmas parade that Main Street sponsors and organizes is definitely on for 2021.
He hopes more and more Texarkanians will return to an appreciation of what downtown has to offer.
"There are people I think in Texarkana who haven't been downtown probably in years and are completely unaware of the changes that have occurred over the last year in this area. And now it would be a really good time to make a trip down here," he said.
"Take a look around. Imagine what it can become. And I think over the next two, three, four or five years you can really see it turn into a district that that not only all Texarkana could be proud of but other cities would be envious of. It's miles away from where it's been."