Downtown Hammond named top 10 Greatest American Main Streets in 2019

 Hammond Downtown Development District has been named a 2019 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) Semifinalist by the National Main Street Center. Winners will be announced at the opening plenary of the Main Street Now Conference in Seattle, Washington, March 25, 2019.

“Hammond, located 45 miles from both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, has the longest-running Main Street America program and the largest district (74 square blocks) of the semifinalists. When the Hammond Downtown Development District was founded in 1984, there was an 80% vacancy rate in the district, which they have worked to reduce by over 87%. And they’re drawing more than business downtown-Hammond Downtown Development District has set a nationwide standard for mixed-use buildings and boasts a diverse range of residential options! “an business downtown—Hammond Downtown Development District has set a nationwide standard for mixed-use buildings and boasts a diverse range of residential options. And they’re drawing more than business downtown—Hammond Downtown Development District has set a nationwide standard for mixed-use buildings and boasts a diverse range of residential options.

 The 2019 Great American Main Street Award recognizes exceptional Main Street America programs whose successes serve as a model for comprehensive, historic preservation-based commercial district revitalization. This year’s 10 Semifinalists were selected from a nationwide pool of accredited applicants by a national jury based on their successful and innovative uses of the Main Street Approach™. Criteria includes: strength of the Main Street America program in creating an exciting place to live, work, play and visit; commitment to historic preservation; implementation of model partnerships, and demonstrated success of the Main Street Approach. Over 90 communities have been recognized as winners since the award’s inception in 1995.

Learn more on mainstreet.org.

About the National Main Street Center and Main Street America

The National Main Street Center has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts since 1980. Today’s network consists of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, collectively known as Main Street America, which share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.