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Main Street reports high festival turnout and awards downtown improvement grants
Summary
Main Street director Amy Byrd told the Fayetteville Board of Mayor and Aldermen that recent events drew substantial out‑of‑county visitors and that the downtown improvement grant awarded funding to 12 property owners from 24 applications, with roughly $185,000 allocated.
Amy Byrd, director of Main Street, told the Fayetteville Board of Mayor and Aldermen at its May meeting that recent downtown events drew large crowds and produced measurable economic activity for the city.
Byrd said the Slower River Festival was “a huge success,” reporting attendance figures the office counted at 11,500 and saying 48% of attendees were from outside Lincoln County. She reported “1.61 total economic impact generating over $80,000 in sales tax revenue,” and said April’s First Saturday event showed a 30% attendance increase compared with the prior year, with 6,900 people attending and 42% from outside Lincoln County.
The main point of Byrd’s report was the downtown improvements grant program. She said staff received 24 applications from property owners and awarded funding to 12 properties, with the program currently at “about $185,000” in allocated funds; Byrd said a small reserve would remain for change requests or overages. She told aldermen a pre‑construction meeting for awarded projects is scheduled May 29 and that awardees will be reimbursed through the established grant process.
Byrd described marketing steps intended to bring more visitors to Fayetteville, including television advertising, a parklet mural planned to depict 50 state flowers as a photographic draw, and additional events such as the build‑your‑own watercraft category planned for July. She and staff use Placer data to track visitor origins and to target promotions toward nearby markets they are not yet reaching.
A board member asked whether decreases in occupancy tax receipts were being addressed; Byrd said short‑term rental hosts (“Airbnb”) are supposed to remit occupancy tax and said the combination of events, advertising and signature attractions like the mural are intended to increase overnight stays and related tax revenue.
Why it matters: Main Street’s event attendance and the downtown grant awards speak directly to the city’s efforts to use tourism and streetscape investment to increase sales and occupancy tax receipts and to stimulate downtown investment.
What’s next: Byrd said engineering and contracting steps for the parklet will move forward and that grant projects will soon enter pre‑construction and reimbursement phases; aldermen may see related reimbursements on future agendas.
