12 communities chosen for ‘Tennessee Downtowns’ program

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development has announced that 12 new communities have been selected to participate in the Tennessee Downtowns program.

TNECD Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced Friday that Alamo, Bell Buckle, Clinton, Dresden, Huntingdon, Jasper, Lexington, Lynnville, Newport, Trenton, Tullahoma and Watertown all have been selected for the sixth round of the program, according to a TNECD news release.

Tennessee Downtowns communities work through groups of local citizens who participate in a two-year program supported by the National Main Street Center, according to the release.

They also receive a $15,000 grant to complete a downtown improvement project.

The newly selected communities have downtown commercial districts established at east 50 years ago and have demonstrated their readiness to organize efforts for downtown revitalization based on the successful “Main Street Four-Point Approach to Downtown Revitalization,” the release states.

The four points are economic vitality, design, promotion and organization, according to mainstreet.org.

There are currently 35 nationally-accredited Tennessee Main Street communities: Athens, Bolivar, Bristol, Brownsville, Cleveland, Collierville, Columbia, Cookeville, Dayton, Dyersburg, Fayetteville, Franklin, Gallatin, Greeneville, Jackson, Johnson City, Jonesborough, Kingsport, Lawrenceburg, Lebanon, Maryville, McKenzie, McMinnville, Morristown, Murfreesboro, Paris, Pulaski, Ripley, Rogersville, Savannah, Sevierville, Sweetwater, Tiptonville, Union City and Winchester.