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The annual Harvest Dinner in LaCrosse, Washington, brings people together to celebrate their downtown and the organization working to preserve it. © LaCrosse Community Pride
Main Street Communities come in many sizes, from big cities to tiny rural towns, and different sized communities can have significantly different needs. With a population of 294, LaCrosse, Washington, is the smallest Main Street in Washington State and the third smallest in the Main Street Network. Their powerhouse Main Street, LaCrosse Community Pride, has used property development and community collaboration to bring back their grocery store, preserve downtown retail spaces, create new tourism opportunities, and even save the local pool. I spoke with Sarah Kane, Executive Director at LaCrosse Community Pride, to learn more about their unique approach to downtown revitalization.
Tell us a little about LaCrosse. What makes your community special?
Like many nearby communities, LaCrosse was slated to become a ghost town. In the 1970s, the highway was rerouted, and it now bypasses our town by miles. Technological advancements meant that farming and ranching jobs that required six people can now be done by one. Our population dwindled to less than 300. The final blow came when the grocery store closed its doors, leaving us without any fresh food for 35 miles.
In 2011, a group of long-time residents banded together to preserve and transform the community by forming LaCrosse Community Pride. We purchased the old grocery store building and began making updates. It now houses a grocery store, library, a community space, and two offices. A year after the store closed, the bank and café closed. LaCrosse Community Pride purchased that building and found tenants to occupy the spaces. Over the next decade, we have also acquired an apartment complex, a warehouse building, and more. LaCrosse is resilient, and our community members were unwilling to let the town die, so we come up with creative solutions to ensure the town’s survival for future generations.
How did your Main Street program begin? Can you share a few major accomplishments?
The original LaCrosse Community Pride board was composed of several entrepreneurial members. One member learned about the Main Street program and proposed that we become a Main Street community. There was some resistance — people were worried that it would be one more “thing” for the group to take on. However, after some careful deliberation, the board realized they were already meeting a large portion of the requirements to be a Main Street community. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the deaths of two very prominent board members, postponed starting the process for an additional two years. Since becoming a Main Street community in 2023, LaCrosse Community Pride has been able to complete the interior renovation of the Rock Bunkhouses, which can now be rented on Airbnb. We also have started the interior demolition of the Rock Service Station and plan to have it renovated into a functioning coffee shop and museum by the end of 2025.
Local students volunteer during a landscape project at LaCrosse Community Pride’s apartment complex. © LaCrosse Community Pride
What are some of the unique challenges of working with a small community? What are some of the unique benefits?
The biggest challenge we face when working in such a small community is finding the manpower to get anything done. Like many communities, 20 percent of our population does 80 percent of the work. We see the same few faces on the parks and recreation board, the school board, serving as livestock boosters and 4H leaders, and leading local business groups. For a town with such a small population, we have 11 different community groups and a small but powerful group of dedicated volunteers.
The benefit to being part of a small community is that people are connected and eager to help. Townsfolk are always looking for new ways to bring new people to our community. We also are more diligent about taking care of our neighbors than areas with a higher population density. We fix fences and check in on our neighbors more frequently. When something traumatic happens to a community member, friends and neighbors will send a month’s worth of food to their residence so they can focus on getting well. There is no shortage of passion, kindness, and friendliness here.
How do you implement the Main Street Approach in your small community? Do you have to make any adjustments to meet your specific community needs?
Our Main Street is different from those in a larger area. Since we have such a small population to recruit from, our committee groups had to be combined. LaCrosse only has a few businesses and many of them are not able to make financial contributions to our organization. Instead, they donate things like gift cards for our auctions, or they support in other ways.
We are also uniquely invested in the real estate on Main Street. A big part of our focus is to preserve the buildings and retain tenants. Tenants that rent from us pay very minimal rent. We also try to purchase supplies for our projects from our small businesses as a way of supporting them.
The LaCrosse community came together to rescue their local pool last year. © LaCrosse Community Pride
LaCrosse Community Pride has an impressive property portfolio. Why is property ownership important for your Main Street? How do you raise the capital to acquire the properties?
It is important that as many properties as possible be owned by those who are still directly vested in the community. Before we began taking on properties, many of them were owned by former LaCrosse residents who had moved out of the area. Many of the properties were falling into disrepair. LaCrosse Community Pride’s ownership prioritizes filling those buildings with businesses and helping create economic vitality.
Due to the small, connected nature of our community, LaCrosse Community Pride has not paid market value to purchase any of our properties. Our board members have made private donations to support us as we acquired the buildings. Some of the properties have also been donated to help preserve the community.
What advice do you have for other small town Main Street programs?
The best advice I can give any community, whether they are large or small, is “you can fix a lot of things with twine and duct tape.” You just have to be creative. LaCrosse residents have found many creative solutions to help the town move forward. For example, last year, our community pool motor died. The pool is the only activity that LaCrosse has for kids during the summer. There were no funds to purchase the motor when it died, and even if the money was there, it would take months to have a new motor delivered and installed. Luckily, one of the local farmers donated a used motor to the parks and recreation department for the pool. A group of volunteers spent hours retrofitting the pool and motor to make everything work, but in less than a week, the pool was up and running again.
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In response, UrbanMain and Main Street Oakland County joined forces in March 2018 to assist Pontiac stakeholders in putting their downtown organization back on a positive track, making Pontiac the first community in Michigan to participate in the UrbanMain initiative.
2018 Partners in Preservation: Main Streets Winning Sites
American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Main Street America announced the winners of the 2018 Partners in Preservation: Main Streets campaign.
2018 Community Transformation Workshop Recap
An essential component of the Main Street America Institute, the three-day in-person workshop gives participants hands-on tools to enact revitalization projects in their communities.
A Statewide Movement Improving West Virginia Main Streets
Since 2013, Try This West Virginia has sought to improve health environments in local communities as a collaboration of organizations working together to combat the health challenges facing West Virginians.
Community Spotlight: Main Street Hampton
Main Street Hampton hosted a Food and Friends Farm-to-Table dinner at the Rustic Brew during Main Street Iowa Restaurant Week.
Community Spotlight: Partners in Preservation 2018
From community gathering spaces to retail incubators, from small towns to big cities – this year’s projects and communities are a testament to the diversity of Main Streets across the country.
Community Spotlight: Ames, Iowa
Downtown Ames hosted a festival for the 46th annual RAGBRAI race (The Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa).
7 Ways To Bring Your Main Street On Screen
You don’t need to be a big-name district to make a video that goes viral; you just need to know what you’re doing.
Comcast Newsmakers: Revitalizing Downtown
Matt Wagner, National Main Street Center's Vice President of Revitalization Programs, discusses competitive advantages, incrementalism and the power of the Main Street America network
Community Spotlight: Main Street Homer, Louisiana
Main Street Homer (Homer, Louisiana) was awarded a $25,000 A Community Thrives social impact grant from Gannett/USA Today Network to create an arts center with affordable artist studios and classroom/event space.
Evolution, Acceptance, and Change: The Main Street Approach as a Catalyst for Revitalization
Nearly slated for demolition 30 years ago, downtown Cedar Falls has experienced an amazing transformation through its revitalization journey using the Main Street Approach.
Main Street Roots Run Deep in Downtown Wytheville
Since starting as Executive Director, Todd has helped the organization achieve Virginia Main Street Designation Status and national Accreditation.
Announcing the 2018 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center, Inc., announced Downtown Oregon City, Rock Springs Main Street/Urban Renewal Agency, and Howell Main Street as the 2018 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) winners during its annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
Main Streets in Action
We rolled out four new Main Street America videos highlighting the power of the Main Street movement, Main Street Approach, economic impact of Main Street, and the incredible volunteers that make Main Street's grassroots network so effective.
Community Spotlight: Ridgefield Main Street
Ridgefield Main Street is an energetic, up-and-coming Washington Main Street program located just north of Vancouver, Washington.
Want to do something big? Start small.
A series of small, incremental improvements, when taken together, provide momentum for long-term economic transformation and improved quality of life in a community.
Michigan Main Street Refresh Implementation: The Refresh from Our Communities’ Perspective
Here's a bit of background on each of the communities. Read on for the Refresh Implementation Q&A.
Announcing the 2017 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center, Inc. announced the 2017 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) during its annual conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Reality of Main Street — Letter from the President
The National Main Street Center and the Brookings Institution have jointly authored a response to Mr. Hyman’s piece, The Reality of Main Street, that is featured on Brookings’ blog.
Michigan Main Street Refresh Implementation: Our Process and Lessons Learned So Far
Michigan Main Street Center was the first Coordinating Program to implement the new Main Street approach on a large scale. In this article, they share their robust process and valuable lessons.
The Reality of Main Street
There is another way for smaller communities to compete in today’s economy and we believe a strong main street strategy is at the heart of it.
The Myth of Main Street? Letter from the President
Letter from past MSA President, Patrice Frey
The Lowdown in Downtown LaBelle
Fritz the dog has made his way into the hearts of the residents of LaBelle, Florida, and helped our Main Street Community find a way to make what we do more noticeable.
Strategic Planning Through Transformation Strategies – Saline, Michigan
Back in October 2015, we introduced the three key components of the refreshed Main Street Approach: inputs, outputs and Community Transformation Strategies.
Revitalization and Main Street Transformation
For a lucky few downtowns, greatness may happen effortlessly with a strong sense of place that seems to develop organically and simply sustain itself. For most places, success doesn’t happen by chance.
Revisit Your Community’s Unique Assets: Connecting Asset-Based Economic Development to Community Transformation Strategies
This need for change results from the heavy emphasis on three components of the refreshed Main Street Approach.
The 2016 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The 2016 winners are a diverse group in geography and character, but together demonstrate the broad applicability of the Main Street Approach:
Main Street Nation Radio
The first official show under the Main Street Nation banner aired in June 2015 on WJR-760 AM Detroit.
The Path To The Future
The economic value of historic preservation on Main Street.
Refresh Demonstration Project Sites: Learning Labs for the Updated Main Street Approach
A series of demonstration projects providing the opportunity to test new strategies on the ground, learn from practitioners, and refine the approach.
Why Business Retention and Expansion Plans are Important for Downtowns
A business retention and expansion plan, properly implemented, not only helps keep businesses open but possibly even helps them expand.
Wisconsin Main Street: 27 Years of People, Places and Progress
While there have been over $1.2 billion in public and private investment in Wisconsin Main Street communities over the past 27 years, what really makes it special are the people and places that have been involved.
Pop-Up Art Tour
Main Street Bartow's empty storefronts become pop-up art galleries to promote economic development.
A Walk Through Rehoboth Beach Main Street
Although a “beach town,” Rehoboth Beach is open 365 days a year, and with that has the unique challenge of catering to both year-round residents and tourists within a wide range of ages, interests and economic levels
Independent We Stand Makes Main Streets a Priority
In communities across the country, hardworking business owners and buy local advocates come together to foster an organized effort to reinvent and revitalize Main Streets and downtown districts.
Announcing the 2015 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center is pleased to announce that Cape Girardeau, Mo., Montclair Center, N.J., and Rawlins, Wyo. were selected as the 2015 Great American Main Street Award® (GAMSA) winners.
