Historic Downtown Oregon City

Thursday, October 22, the non-profit Main Street Oregon City will celebrate its first year of work in historic downtown Oregon City with an annual meeting and public presentation. The non-profit Main Street Oregon City was created as a volunteer led organization that works with downtown business owners, property owners and downtown supporters to make all of historic downtown Oregon City a better place to live, work and visit.
The non-profit Main Street Oregon City will host an annual meeting at 7 am on Thursday, October 22nd to “Celebrate Downtown.” The meeting will include a review of downtown successes from 2009 and an unveiling of goals, projects and plans for 2010.

The non-profit Main Street Oregon City, modeled after the National Trust’s Main Street approach to downtown revitalization, works in four areas of downtown development: marketing & promotions, economic development and business recruitment, design and planning, and building community capacity.

“This has been a very positive first year for downtown Oregon City,” said Downtown Manager Lloyd Purdy. “The hard work of downtown business owners, property owners and supporters ensures that downtown Oregon City is well positioned for success in 2010.”

Celebrating successes from 2009 includes: The creation of a recruitment campaign for creative professionals to downtown Oregon City that will be introduced at the October 22 meeting and implemented in 2010. The creation of a downtown dialogue to facilitated discussions about the future of downtown Oregon City. The creation of a “Taste of Downtown” video series to highlight downtown’s restaurants that will be introduced at the October 22 meeting. A downtown retail market analysis that will guide retail recruitment efforts downtown in 2010. The creation of a monthly “First Friday” event series in downtown that will continue throughout 2010. Funding for a downtown mural brochure that will be introduced in 2010. And the creation of a “First Steps” walking tour that will be unveiled in 2010.

This will also be an opportunity to welcome new downtown businesses that opened in 2009 including: The Verdict, The Caufield House, Remember Books, Pioneer Pub, Oregon City Ice House, The Vintage Shop, David Boyer Floor Covering, and Premiere Insurance.

The highlight of the meeting may very well be the awards presented to downtown business owners, property owners and downtown supporters. The award series includes: The Golden Bootstrap Award for entrepreneurial spirit. The Golden Yardstick Award for the greatest measure of innovation. The Golden Palette Award for the newest downtown art event. The Golden Brick Award for most successful storefront renovation, and several more awards for service to downtown.

During the meeting the non-profit Main Street Oregon City will share several goals for 2010. This includes: Increasing the branding and brand recognition of the downtown marketplace, the addition of a signature event to the downtown event schedule in the summer of 2010, improving the gateways to downtown, enhancing the streetscape, and the formation of an Organization Committee to guide volunteer recruitment efforts and fundraising efforts for downtown.

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