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Downtown Coldwater named nationally accredited Main Street; staff cites TIF increase and visitor data
Summary
DDA staff announced Coldwater earned 2026 national Main Street accreditation, noted new grant opportunities, and shared TIF and visitation data (estimated TIF $122,000; busiest day 2025 Strawberry Festival with 11,871 visits).
Downtown Coldwater has been named a nationally accredited Main Street for 2026, DDA staff announced Wednesday, placing the community among a small group in Michigan with that designation.
"We did become officially a 2026 nationally accredited Main Street with the National Main Street organization," Kristen told the board, adding that the DDA has not yet received the official letter or press release. She said accreditation will bring new resources and grant opportunities.
Staff also presented twice-yearly notice on tax increment financing (TIF) under PA 57 and shared visitor metrics from Michigan Main Street. Kristen said last year’s TIF revenue was about $112,000 and the estimate for the coming year is roughly $122,000; she outlined intended uses including downtown maintenance, art installations, promotion and the facade-rebate program.
On visitation, staff cited Michigan Main Street data showing Coldwater’s busiest day in 2025 was the Strawberry Festival (June 21), with 11,871 visitors. The downtown registered about 223,857 unique visitors and roughly 1.426 million total visits (an average of approximately six visits per visitor across the year), placing Coldwater as the 10th most visited Main Street community statewide in the provided report.
Kristen said the DDA will circulate formal notice and a press release after the organization receives official accreditation materials and will work on grant and promotion opportunities tied to the designation.
