County Kicks Off Officials Revitalization Efforts in Downtown Wheaton

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St/wheaton.pr 00-247

Contact: Natalie Cantor, 240-777-8100
For Immediate Release: June 20, 2000

County Kicks Off Official Revitalization
Efforts in Downtown Wheaton

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan today joined members of the newly-appointed Wheaton Redevelopment Steering Committee, representatives of the National Main Street Center and staff of the newly-created Wheaton Redevelopment Office in kicking off the revitalization of downtown Wheaton.

Revitalization efforts will focus on preserving and improving the neighborhoods and business centers in Wheaton's downtown area. After soliciting ideas from the community during a series of focus groups and interviews, Main Street staff will develop a community consensus strategy. The input from these focus groups will be used to develop four images that will illustrate possible development scenarios for Wheaton. Scheduled to begin meeting in mid-September, seven focus groups will elicit the opinions of nearly 400 people.

"After working successfully with both the community and the private sector in Silver Spring, we are bringing the lessons we learned there to Wheaton," said Duncan. "With the input from these focus groups, we hope to develop and implement a revitalization scenario based on Smart Growth principles."

Duncan appointed the 33-member Wheaton Redevelopment Steering Committee that will advise him on all phases of the project. The steering committee will be co-chaired by Ray Morrison, owner of the Royal Mile Pub in Wheaton, and Vickie R. Anderson, an attorney and Wheaton resident.

The County Executive also announced the establishment of the Wheaton Redevelopment Office, to be located at 11501 Georgia Avenue. Staffed by representatives of agencies that can help eliminate red tape and quickly deliver visible results, the office will include resources from the County and the Wheaton Urban District. Douglas Wrenn, formerly with the Silver Spring Redevelopment Office, will serve as director. The office is scheduled to be open for business in late July.

The National Main Street Center, a program of the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, has helped more than 1,300 communities throughout the United States revitalize their downtowns. To date, communities participating in the Main Street program have generated more than $10.9 billion in new commercial investment and rehabilitated more than 60,900 buildings - with a net gain of more than 174,000 new jobs and 47,000 new businesses. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Main Street Center's impressive track record in helping communities create new jobs and attract investments makes the Main Street program one of the most successful economic development programs in the nation.

Lauren Adkins and Scott Day, senior program associates with the National Main Street Center in Washington, D.C., will represent Main Street during the Wheaton revitalization process. Wheaton's Main Street process is a result of a collaboration between the County, the Wheaton-Kensington Chamber of Commerce and the Wheaton Citizens Coalition.

Persons interested in the revitalization of Wheaton are encouraged to participate in the focus groups. For more information, call the Mid-County Regional Services Center at 240-777-8100.

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