40 years downtown...

Anne Davis and many other community leaders saw their hard work pay off when Murfreesboro was selected to participate in the Main Street program to revitalize downtown.

Blake Tidwell said, “I think it is fantastic and almost unbelievable that we were chosen considering the short length of time we’ve been involved in looking at this program.” Tidwell and many other leaders helped raise financial commitments totaling nearly $70,000 for the local application. 

“Local businesses and banks are willing to commit thousands of dollars toward participating in the Tennessee Main Street Program, a plan that would provide technical assistance for revitalizing the heart of Rutherford County – the downtown area.  Community development coordinator Anne Davis explained Wednesday that if a starting budget of $30,000 per year for two years can be obtained to pay a qualified project manager, then a local application for participation in the program will be sent to state officials by the November 30 deadline. The goal is for the greater Murfreesboro-Rutherford County area to be one of five in the state to be designated under the program for 1985.  Each city will receive consulting and technical assistance granted to the network of 140 Main Street cities nationwide.

Blake Tidwell of Bell Jewelers, who had been heading up solicitations for the project, said he has been actively involved in various committees with similar goals for the past 12 years. For the first time, the Main Street program “gives us a chance to tie it all together.”  “All of these efforts lead toward the same thing – not to let our town run down.”

Mrs. Davis added, “This is not a grant; it is a self-help program that could give the assistance and organization needed to bring life back into the downtown area.”  Anne Davis said during an initial meeting with local bankers and businessmen, “I’ve never seen so much happen after just one meeting!”  “I think it can happen within the deadline, and I also feel our chances of being named as a Main Street city are very good.”

The Main Street program was established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and launched nationally in 1977. Tennessee joined the Main Street network in 1983, with Brownsville, Pulaski, Gallatin, Columbia, and Greeneville selected from 14 applications. 

Anne Davis and many other community leaders saw their hard work pay off when Murfreesboro was selected to participate in the Main Street program for revitalizing downtown areas. That year, 16 participants, including Covington, Franklin, Kingsport, and Winchester, were also selected. 

Blake Tidwell said, “I think it is fantastic and almost unbelievable that we were chosen considering the short length of time we’ve been involved in looking at this program.” Tidwell and many other leaders helped raise financial commitments totaling nearly $70,000 for the local application. 

Leading up to the mid-80s, movement away from the Square had been gradual, but the result was inevitable – unless something were done, the Square would no longer be a vital part of the community. As reported in the DNJ in 1986, “With this revitalization, the Main Street Project was born.  And with the dedication of a community that doesn’t want to lose its heritage, the project's first year has been successful.”  Dawn Eaton explained, “It’s a project for the entire community.” 

Organization is one of the four pillars of the Main Street movement.  Back in 1985, a small group of organizers began by encouraging the enthusiasm of merchants on the Square and throughout the 25-block area the project encompassed.  Key leaders included Jack Weatherford, chief executive officer, and Mid-South Bank and Trust board chairman.  In the fall of 1984, Weatherford and local businessmen Marty McCullough, Bob Ealy, Bruce Plummer, and Blake Tidwell first investigated the possibility of Murfreesboro becoming a Main Street community. 

A picture of the first director of this new Main Street program is in the DNJ on February 21, 1985.  Dawn Eaton poses beside Jack Weatherford, and the article's first sentence states, “An MTSU graduate has been chosen to lead the way in revitalizing the downtown area through the two-year Main Street program. Jackson native Dawn Eaton was the unanimous selection for project manager by the interim board of directors.”  There were 65 applicants for the job, but as Anne Davis stated in the article, “I feel, and the interim board agrees that, out of the applicants we interviewed Sunday, Mrs. Eaton would have the greatest degree of success showing the downtown businessmen what can be done and working toward improving the area as a whole,”  said assistant community development coordinator Anne Davis.”

Dawn Eaton, the project manager unanimously selected by the interim board of directors, later explained, “Organization means we have to have a strong base, which was particularly important in the first year.” 

One of Main Street's goals is to strengthen the historic commercial district's existing economic base while identifying opportunities for new businesses to locate within it. Another is to find new uses for historic commercial buildings and stimulate property investment.

Four years after the initiation of the Main Street program, 40 renovation projects had begun in the 25-block area.  The county started renovating Goldstein’s and Holloway buildings for future office space, and Main Street was assisting with new designs for the outer part of the new government buildings.  Thanks to the funding raised through the Main Street program, the city agreed to conduct a cost study for the downtown improvements program.  Petitions were presented to Murfreesboro City Council in April 1987, requesting the establishment of a Central Business Assessment District.  Activities included tearing up ground inside the courthouse loop for new sidewalks and other improvements, storm sewer works around the public square, and installing electric and telephone lines underground. 

Dawn Eaton told the DNJ, “Even though it involves physical changes, Main Street feels it will change the economic character of downtown.” 

On September 8, 1985, Main Street started its biggest project with the help of eight of the ten local financial institutions, as they joined arms in making available a $1 million low-interest loan pool for rehabilitation projects in the downtown area.  The commercial loan program offers loans up to $25,000 at 1 percent below the New York Prime Rate for a maximum of 10 years- it has been developed “as an incentive to improve the economic appeal of the area by enhancing the visual image of the downtown environment.” 

40 years later, our downtown is economically strong and vibrant, as you can see from this downtown data collected from 2024:

* Main Street events brought the community downtown to create a sense of place

o   Friday Night Live concerts – 5,000

o   Murfreesboro Saturday Market – 22,000

o   Quarterly shopping events with Downtown After 5 – 13,000

o   Celebrate Christmas tree lighting – 3,000

* A recorded 500 businesses are operating within the downtown historic business district

o   32 new businesses opened in 2024

o   2% ground floor vacancy rate

o   $1.9 million in private funds for downtown improvement

o   $1.6 million in public downtown improvement projects

o   Main Street gave back $6,000 in downtown improvement grants.

o   The Marketing initiatives of Main Street in 2024 proved successful, with 136K website views and a combined 24K followers’ engagement and reach on social media. 

o   In 2024, Main Street had 135 active downtown business members join.

March 30, 1986 in the Daily News Journal :

Dawn Eaton, the first Executive Director of the newly formed Main Street program, said, “Main Street seeks to encourage the sense of community.  We want to create a sense of downtown. People have a feeling about what downtown should be.”  Discovery astronaut Rhea Seddon helped draw crowds for the first downtown event with Main Street, an ice cream social.  “Main Street has a very warm place in my heart,” the Discovery astronaut told a crowd at the ice cream social. “I remember the homecoming parades.” The last time Rhea Seddon rode on the back of a convertible down East Main Street, she was waving at the crowd in a homecoming parade wearing a Central High School cheerleader’s uniform. 

Main Street Murfreesboro organizes special events, retail promotions, and image campaigns to increase foot traffic and visibility throughout the historic downtown.  The Board of Directors allocates annual budget funds to support downtown promotional events. Main Street is thankful for the volunteers who help with these events by serving on planning committees and volunteering their time. We are grateful for sponsors who fund the events, vendors at our Saturday Market, and community members who choose to attend these events and add economic value to our downtown by supporting small businesses.

2024 Promotional Events:

Annual Celebration

Downtown After 5 (quarterly shopping, dining, and entertainment events)

Boro Art Crawls (collaborative project)

Murfreesboro Saturday Market

Friday Night Live Concert Series

Scarecrows Downtown

Window Decorating Contests

Chalk Art Contests

Evening on Main social

Celebrate Christmas tree lighting

Gift Basket Shopping Drawings

Pictures with Santa

MTSU student events

Dawn Eaton explained in the DNJ in 1985 that the first renovation project through Main Street would be the old post office on West Main Street.  The criteria for being selected in the Main Street program included the strength of the town’s public and private sector, commitment to hiring a full-time Main Street Director, the potential for reaching its goals, presence of an identifiable Main Street district, the town’s readiness to participate in the program, and the town’s history of downtown revitalization. 

“Declaring ‘The Action’s Back on Main Street,’ a small group of organizers began by encouraging the enthusiasm of merchants on the Square and throughout the 25-block area the project encompasses,” read the DNJ on March 30, 1986.  Jack Weatherford added, “We saw this as an opportunity to make the downtown area a vibrant area, and we thought the momentum of Homecoming ’86 would be helpful.”  Weatherford and other bankers agreed to give low-interest loans to further encourage revitalizing the building exteriors in the area.  They provided a $1 million loan pool for projects in the 25-block area approved by the Main Street Design Committee.

Dawn added, “The primary focus so far has been on design – the most noticeable way to see what Main Street is. We aimed to do a few buildings in the first year, but we have exceeded that with five façade improvements completed and two underway.”  Dawn continued, “I think that within a few years, you will see three-fourths of the buildings done.  We have concentrated heavily on design because visual change stimulates activity.  Right now, 20 people have asked for our assistance.” 

As Dawn said in the article, “You can’t just fix up buildings and expect the Square to survive. That’s where economic restructuring comes in.  That is what Main Street is all about.  We want to create a climate that breaks the cycle of disinvestment, and that’s the toughest of all.” 

As a continued tradition that started in 2003, the Downtown Design Award was selected by the Design Committee under Main Street Murfreesboro.  Businesses within the historic business district were encouraged to apply if they had done major renovations on a building, creating a sense of place by restoring a historic building and adding economic value by activating the space.  Many worthy businesses applied in 2024, but two were selected based on the extent of their renovations to a historic building and adding a new business to the downtown that had not been in the space before their construction project.

The Velvet Room Speakeasy, located in the back alley of South Maple Street and owned by Crystal and Daniel Creach were one of the Design Award winners.

One of Nineteen Cocktails and Raw Bar, located at 103 North Maple Street, and owned by Christie and Shawn Hackinson were the second Design Award winners.