Advice on how best to expand Vicksburg’s Main Street program will be sought in the coming weeks.

Directors of the business development district want to expand its area east along Clay Street to Interstate 20 and south on Washington Street to the Mississippi River bridges. Advice on bringing the long-desired goal of the program to completion will be sought from the Mississippi Main Street Association and the City of Vicksburg, chairman Harry Sharp said.

Owners of commercial property in the existing district pay a special assessment along with their municipal taxes and the money is combined with other Vicksburg funds to promote the downtown area and sponsor events such as the Fall Festival and Riverfest.

Though public comments and a hearing will come before any legal steps toward the expansion, convincing business owners on the benefits of joining the program is a key first step.

“This tax applies to businesses and it would be voluntary,” Sharp said. “It’s not something that would be forced on them and they would elect to do it.”

Main Street is a national program. The district here initially was created in 1984 as one of the original six downtown development districts in Mississippi. Vicksburg Main Street now includes about 150 commercial properties on Washington, Cherry and Walnut streets. Funds for staff and promotional events are expected to be $156,000 this year. An expansion would require participation of a majority of the businesses on Clay and areas of Washington Street south of downtown.

Sharp and board member Jerry Hall termed the notion of expanding “an education” for businesses unaware of the program’s advantages.

“I would hope before we bring it up for a vote or something, we’d go through a very sophisticated effort to let folks know what we bring to the table,” Hall said.

Monthly expenses for October show $5,074.75 spent from taxing district money, with about half paying for walking maps of downtown and other advertisements.

In recent years, the program has coordinated with area merchants and farmers on such efforts as Hit The Bricks and the Vicksburg Farmers’ Market.

In June, Vicksburg Main Street was named with 650 other Main Street programs nationwide a 2009 Accredited National Main Street Program by the National Trust Main Street Center and the state association. 

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com