DOWNTOWN
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downtown, with thousands showing up at the waterfront
Melody Park to eat, drink and be merry.
Events held downtown, whether sponsored by Main Street
or not, bring hundreds of thousands of people into the downtown
area to see the restored buildings and small businesses
and restaurants that are now there.
The latest event, an antique show where people bring
antiques for sale in their cars and sell them from their trunks,
started small, but like FridayFest, it is expected to grow. It is
patterned after the Highwaymen artists’ original method of
selling their paintings along roadsides.
As the downtown began to revive, Tillman and the Main
Street board and volunteers realized that the downtown
needed more than just visitors. It needed people who lived
there and would patronize the businesses regularly. Once
again they succeeded.
Jon Ward was the first to see the value in that idea.
“My wife, Teri Adams-Ward, and I bought what was arguably
the ugliest building in town in 2000, the former Russakis
Liquor Store on North Depot Drive,” he says. “ Teri was a native
of Fort Pierce and both she and I saw the value of doing
our part to recreate a living downtown, both economically
and from a lifestyle standpoint.”
They remodeled the building, turning it into a showplace.
“We were flattered to win the Mayor’s Gold Hammer
Award for our efforts, although we did get some wry remarks
about Teri’s coral-colored exterior paint choice, and Doris
Tillman had been secretly sneaking around taking photographs
of the work, which she submitted to the Florida Main
Street Awards committee,” Ward says.
“In 2002, we won the state award for renovation. As a result
of that award, HGTV featured our home on their series, “Building
Character.” We were very pleased because the film crew
featured great shots of downtown Fort Pierce, and Teri and I
thought that was a wonderful thing for the image of our city.”
Good times
begin at Roy’s!
We have
the largest
wine
selection
on the
Treasure
Coast.
Visit our Boozgeois Saloon!
(772) 461-3097 | Fax (772) 461-3587
720 South US 1 | Fort Pierce, FL 34950
email: keith@winokeith.com
www.roysliquors.com
MAIN STREET
Web site: www.mainstreetfortpierce.org
List of Main Street projects: http://mainstreetfortpierce.
org/?page_id=8
Mission Statement: To preserve, promote and build on
the historic and natural treasures of our downtown waterfront
community.
Vision Statement: Downtown Fort Pierce, the heart of St.
Lucie County, will have an inviting atmosphere, highlighted
by historic architecture, unique natural assets
and will enhance the civic, cultural and economic viability
of the entire community — retail, service, academic,
government and industry.
The Numbers submitted for the Great American Main
Street national award:
Main Street began: 1988
Population: 44,227
Net new jobs: 404
Net new businesses: 88
Building rehabs: 136
New buildings: 17
Vacancy rate when Main Street started: 40%
Vacancy rate today: 8%
Public investment: $14,575,000.00
Private investment $25,020,000.00
>>
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