Downtown Boone Main Street director reports $131,000 in building rehabs, 85 volunteer hours in Q4

Holly Stecher, Downtown Boone Main Street director, presented the program’s fourth-quarter economic impact report and a workplan to Boone City Council on the agenda item for “Downtown Boone, a Main Street community.”

Stecher said the district reported $131,000 in building rehabilitation investments for the quarter, including $98,400 in private investment and $33,000 in grant funding. She said two buildings sold in the district — the Duffy’s Appliance building at 821 Story Street and the Whistle Stop Café at 1102 Story Street — with combined reported sales of $50,000. Stecher said the Main Street program logged 85 volunteer hours in the quarter; using the state’s valuation of $28.28 per hour, that equated to $5,343 in volunteer investment. Quarterly revenue was $35,237 and expenditures were $19,931, she reported.

The presentation emphasized the program’s “four-point” transformation strategy used by Main Street America-accredited programs: creating activity through building rehabs and storefront work; enhancing sense of place with public amenities; pursuing inclusive and sustainable organizational development; and recruiting businesses and residents to downtown. “You really can’t change what you don’t measure,” Stecher said of the quarterly reports, which are required by the state and Main Street America accreditation.

Stecher outlined ongoing and upcoming projects, including downtown tree planting (with first-year maintenance and pruning under way), a Radicato “Sixth Street Underground” project that includes a facade renovation and a commercial kitchen (a catalyst grant pre-application was submitted Jan. 31), an arch project with George Eckstein to be discussed at the Feb. 17 council meeting, and the Van Hemmert Family Terrace landscaping and retaining-wall seating project. She also listed community outreach plans, including appearances at Rotary, Kiwanis, PEO and the Boone Area Veterans Society.

Councilmembers asked about the composition of the volunteer hours. A councilmember asked, “What did they volunteer doing?” Stecher said many hours were recorded for board members attending Main Street Iowa trainings and that she could provide a breakdown if the council wanted one.

On finances, Stecher said $14,333 of expenditures were within the downtown district (payroll, payroll taxes, leases, website development and professional services), $4,657 was spent in other town-of-Boone activities, $738 covered Main Street Iowa/Main Street America training, and $204 went to subscriptions. She thanked the City of Boone and the Chamber for support and emphasized that the program is still in an early implementation phase.

Stecher closed by asking for continued support from the council and staff as the program moves from start-up toward the organization’s 3–5 year strategic goals.