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Clermont Main Street outlines events, grant wins and outreach plans
Summary
Clermont Main Street executive director Natalie Kaler told the CRA about the group’s focus on economic redevelopment through historic preservation, listed recurring downtown events and said the organization has secured two grants (a $50,000 design-guideline award and an America250 art initiative) while continuing community-driven planning and new marketing efforts.
Natalie Kaler, executive director of Clermont Main Street, briefed the Community Redevelopment Agency on Main Street’s role in downtown economic redevelopment and historic preservation, describing recurring events, community committees and outreach practices.
Kaler said Main Street’s core purpose is economic redevelopment through historic preservation, education and placemaking—not event production alone. She listed the group’s regular activities: a monthly wine stroll, a weekly farmers market, a harvest festival, a winter event, a haunted-house event and new additions including an anime market and a family food festival. Kaler also described a video series, Face That Runs the Place, that profiles local business owners and connects the public to the people behind downtown storefronts.
Kaler said Clermont Main Street recently won two state-related grants: a $50,000 design-guideline grant to help homeowners and property owners with visual preservation and an art initiative tied to America250, both contingent on state budget cycles. She warned the board the state budget remained unsettled and that timing could affect future grant opportunities; she said Main Street would continue pursuing grants and work with city staff on coordination.
On community engagement, Kaler described an annual business survey and open committees for design, organization, promotion and economic vitality; she encouraged board members and residents to attend monthly committee meetings and community sessions. She also flagged a planned film-and-history website, a scavenger-hunt program tied to local film history, and a target launch of the new marketing website by the end of May.
Board members thanked Kaler for the work and pressed for coordination with the city’s public-information office and tourism grants to boost the historical village and downtown attractions.
