Main Street streetscape receives statewide award

We see it every day, so maybe it is easy for us to forget how much Main Street has been changing. Thanks to the efforts of the MainCor (the Main Street Community Improvement District), the street just got a big award for all the improvements over there. Photo courtesy MainCor.

The people who get together for the Missouri Main Streets Connection Conference each year are folks who know something about what makes a great and healthy street. That’s why is such an honor for Midtown’s own Main Street to have received the top award for streetscape and public improvements recently. Here’s what the Main Street Connections folks said in a press release about the award.

 Main Street is historically Kansas City’s most important corridor, and its age has shown for many years. In the past, Main Street was a blighted area, discouraging property owners from investing in improvements to their properties, but has improved in the years since MainCor stepped in to encourage economic development. The Streetscape Project is a large-scale effort to change the public perception of the Main Street corridor and show how far it has come. The project plans call for three phases, one of which is completed, with phase two under construction currently. Plans call for many components designed to increase aesthetics and safety. New sidewalks and curb cuts, improved pedestrian crossings, features to slow down speeding vehicles, new street signs, street light enhancements, pedestrian lights at intersections, new trash receptacles, rain gardens, landscaping, historic markers, and a daily patrol operated by the Main Street Community Improvement District all contribute to the improvements. The project is owned by the City of Kansas City and is primarily paid for using Tax-Increment Financing (TIF), PIAC dollars and General Obligation bond funds. MainCor was designated as the administrator of the project, and will continue to maintain the improvements  when all phases are complete.  Phase One is already starting to spur redevelopment within the area, with signs of new investment in commercial properties.

Way to go, MainCor.

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