Missouri's Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference: Inspiring Missouri Main Street's Future through Foundational Historic Preservation Ethics
August 18, 2024 | Logan Breer
Attendees of this year’s conference know more intimately about the connection between historic preservation and upper-story housing due to the success of their historic commercial districts as thriving local economies and walkable neighborhoods.
Representatives from communities of all sizes across Missouri attended the 2024 Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference in Kansas City where they dove into “Foundations to Futures” that equipped them at every level to advocate and implement innovative residential and historic preservation-focused solutions. Look at the ways our attendees engaged with each other, historic preservation, housing, and the Main Street Approach™ during the conference.
The first day of Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference has grown over the years from a kickoff day for early arrives with a few events, meetings, and educational opportunities via tours into a full-fledged conference day with ample opportunities for attendees to begin learning before the Opening Assembly. Starting on Tuesday, July 30th , attendees began learning about foundational historic preservation concepts and the bright futures that are possible through utilizing incremental, adaptive housing. This was possible through the variety of programming that included a quarterly Directors’ Meeting, semiannual Support Staff Meeting for Main Street staff, two concurrent educational tours, Urban Revitalization: Lessons from St. Louis Main Streets forum, and Deep Dive: Bringing Down the Barriers on Historic Preservation.
The two concurrent education tours included “Revival of Rhythm: The Artistic Pulse of Kansas City” and “Urban Renaissance: Kansas City’s Housing Harmony.” During the Revival of Rhythm tour, participants visited spaces in Kansas City where history and creativity intertwined. The two stops on this tour, Kansas City’s Jazz District and 2000 Vine Campus, stood as testimonies for rehabilitation of buildings as the possibilities are limitless even for those that have been neglected for years. During the Urban Renaissance tour, participants discovered housing developments that showcased ingenuity and innovation. The two stops on this tour, Kansas City’s Jazz Hill and Westport High School, showcased resident-focused designs that increased the diversity of housing options available in Kansas City. Together, these two educational tours allowed people to see firsthand the potential a building can have through rehabilitation that is not limited to only commercial but can be residential or mixed-use.
For the second year in a row, Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) held a Deep Dive as part of the programing for day one of Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference. This year the Deep Dive was sponsored by Karen Bode Baxter. During the Deep Dive, Dr. Steven Hoffman and Dana Gould detailed key concepts for historic preservation with the support of Randy Schilling, Thomas Walters, Garrett Fischer, and Scott Rhodes. This powerful duo led the panel in sharing their experiences and distilled it into an informative and comprehensive presentation that allowed attendees to decipher the National Register of Historic Places process, harness the power of tax credits, and more.
The Urban Forum also returned for its second year allowing stakeholders from Kansas City and other urban districts in Missouri to hear from St. Louis Main Streets programs about their success in organizing together, utilizing the Main Street Approach™, studying the market, gathering demographic information, and adopting economic transition strategies. This session was available by invitation only.
To conclude the first day, the “Welcome Home” Evening Opening Reception began with the unveiling of the “Welcome Home” Gallery which featured over 20 doors submitted by people across Missouri. After the unveiling of the gallery, attendees mingled while viewing all the entries and participating in the Historic Architecture Puzzle. The puzzle featured countless buildings in Missouri’s Main Street districts. We could feel the energy in the Grand Ballroom Foyer as attendees were connecting and learning more about historic preservation by engaging with our volunteers and board to categorize their completed puzzle pieces correctly. At the end of the evening, four attendees received Christopher Elbow chocolates as prizes for participating in the Historic Architecture Puzzle. The “Welcome Home” Gallery was featured in the Main Street Foyer for the remainder of the conference for the other conference attendees to enjoy and vote for their favorite doors and their stories.
Missouri’s’ Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference entered Day 2 and officially started with the Welcome & Opening Assembly sponsored by BOLD Marketing on Wednesday, July 31st . Bernice Radle’s, the Opening Keynote speaker, words were energizing! She brought her passion and experience as an urban planner, historic preservationist, and “building science nerd” in full force. We heard from our attendees that, “her passion was very contagious” and “she was very inspirational… and now I have great ideas to take home!” We are honored to have had her as our Opening Keynote and know that she inspired many to follow in her footsteps in protecting unique architecture as well as promoting healthy neighborhoods and small-scale development.
Following the Welcome and Opening Assembly attendees started learning from a multitude of speakers on topics centered around Historic Preservation, Upper Story Housing, and the Four Points of the Main Street Approach™: Design, Promotion, Organization, and Economic Vitality.
Some of the attendees were clear about which sessions were their favorites with the reviews we have received so far. The “Upper Story Stories: When City Leadership & Community Champions Come Together” session received high remarks as people were inspired by how the City of Maryville and Downtown Maryville work together.
Additionally, high remarks were given to “Upstairs and Alternative Housing on Main Street”, “Main Street Living”, “Youth Empowerment in Main Street Initiatives”, “Telling Your Community’s Story with Missouri Humanities”, and “Preservation Theatrics”. There were many take aways from these sessions with one of our favorites being “the speaker’s community is smaller than our small town – That gives us hope in what we can accomplish.”
For the third year in a row, MMSC awarded $10,000 to one lucky community as part of the Creative Space Activation Grant during the ShowMe Bash & Pitch Party, sponsored by US Bank and Artificial Ice Events. Attendees brought the excitement of the conference to J. Rieger’s as three communities presented fantastic pitches. Main Street Brookfield walked away as the winner with $10,000 for their project! Their application and following pitch at the event highlighted how their project would impact their district and the strong support they have.
Thursday, August 1 st was the final day of Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference. Thompson Coburn LLP was the sponsor of the Closing Assembly. Randy Wilson gave an inspirational Keynote Address taking home the conference with “What Would You Do?” He let his community-based design philosophy he uses in his work as a nationally renowned architect and owner of Community Design Solutions guide his presentation to connect the concepts attendees learned about creative housing, placemaking, and Main Street to actionable steps. We heard from our attendees that they were inspired to, “try new things; bring people in even when it slows you down” and “it’s not about us but who we are working to improve life for.”
Following the conclusion of the conference’s Closing Assembly, attendees enjoy a celebratory finale where communities receive awards based upon the excellent work they have achieved over the past year. This year’s Evening of Excellence Awards Ceremony & Dinner was held at The Bauer. Having the Evening of Excellence at a separate venue than our conference hotel allowed us to do a few special things such as cater fabulous food from Garozzo’s and have our staff and volunteers be the servers. Like every year, this special evening recognizes the commitment that communities, businesses, Main Street programs, and individuals have to their district as well as the achievements of Main Street revitalization. MMSC presented 14 awards during the Evening of Excellence Awards Ceremony & Dinner. Check out the News page on our website to see all the awards MMSC awarded during the Evening of Excellence Awards Ceremony.
MMSC is excited to see you in St. Louis in 2025!
1 thought on “August 16, 2024 – Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference”
please keep me updated by email or text for ALL events near Kansas City, I am also interested in learning about the DOOR program, and how to pitch with the rules and requirements the rules for 2025. I am a member of Raytown Main Street board and on our Organizational and Economic Redevelopment Committees. We are currently working with the city and Lakota Group on a comprehensive plan. barkeogh56@gmail.com/ 1 816 609 1133 Thanks, Barb Keogh
6724 Sterling Avenue
Raytown, MO, 64133