Salina joins Main Street program, plans to increase foot traffic, residences downtown

Salina wants downtown to continue to flourish. Along with a successful downtown development plan, the addition of a hotel and the move of a grocery store to Santa Fe Avenue, Salina is becoming a Kansas Main Street member once again.

Main Street is a national organization that helps downtowns reignite and sustain. Gov. Laura Kelly reimplemented the program in Kansas two years ago.

Last week, Kelly announced the Kansas Main Street initiative that she brought back will be expanding.

Along with Hays and Great Bend, Salina rejoined Kansas Main Street.

Earlier this week, Eureka, Newton and Valley Center became members of this downtown group. These three cities are newcomers to the Main Street organization. By adding these six communities, Kansas Main Street has expanded to 35 downtowns.

More: Prairieland Market gets ready to grow and move to Santa Fe Avenue

"SDI's motto is 'better together,' and together, the members of Kansas Main Street can work to enhance the importance of local businesses and share our ideas to better each of our communities," said Leslie Bishop, Salina Downtown Inc.'s director.

Helping Salina thrive

Kansas Main Street's director, Scott Sewell, considers SDI a mature organization, with much wisdom and experience. By rejoining Kansas Main Street, they will have access to networking, both within the Sunflower State and nationally.

"We can provide services in building rehabs, upper floor development, business development and business recruitment and retention," Sewell said.

More: New performance stage, more activities coming to downtown Salina

Along with focusing on downtown storefront occupancy, Scott places attention on restoring buildings and obtaining second-and third-story tenants. By bringing residents and visitors to Main Street, in this case, Santa Fe Avenue, the city will see growth. This includes both hotel rooms and loft or apartment space for residents.

Scott said although Salina has a hotel and some loft space, there is a lot of upper floor space that can still be developed. By renovating these spaces, cities in Kansas, including Salina, can alleviate some of its housing crunch. But, he said, not everyone wants to live downtown.

"The work that we've done has shown us that approximately 4 to 6% of any given population, whether it's a town of 3,000 or a town of 30,000, would want to live in a downtown loft apartment," Sewell said. "If you had a chance to open up 4 to 6% of your housing market, that might not be a lot, but it would help solve (some of) the housing issue in Kansas."

Main Street communities have found that in order to keep the downtown district thriving, there needs to be certain amenities available. In addition to a variety of businesses, these include a strong nightlife, restaurants, bars, coffee shops and theaters.

"They've (Salina) renovated the Stiefel Theatre a few years back, and they've got great acts coming into town," Sewell said. "They quickly realize when they (people) come from out of town, or even residents come to those shows, they want to be able to go out and eat before the show or go have a drink after the show."

Because of people wanting a full experience, Sewell said, it's not enough to just have that awesome theater with awesome acts coming in.

"They realized they needed restaurants and some nightlife," he said.

And to complement that nightlife, living quarters or a hotel is also vital. Homewood Suites opened on Santa Fe Avenue less than two years ago, and Prairieland Market will relocate to the avenue soon.

"Our main streets speak volumes about our state and its communities," stated Lt. Gov. David Toland in a release. "Strong and vibrant main streets make it clear that Kansas is open for business, and we have outstanding cities and towns where people want to live and where businesses want to invest."

Bringing businesses to Salina starts with a thriving downtown

When a company is looking at relocating to a community they look at what the town has to offer its employees. Downtown areas are usually a key selling point.

"They want to know that their employees are living in a community that's healthy and viable and active and alive," Sewell said. "And so, it was a great example of that and also of the public-private partnership aspect of revitalizing (Salina)."

Scott said Salina's downtown has thrived because of the comradery between city hall and the community, including private investors.

"Success really comes from having that partnership, the public-private partnership, and knowing that everybody's on the same page moving forward," Sewell said.

The Kansas Main Street program is affiliated with the National Main Street Center. While there are no federal funds provided directly to Main Street communities, designated cities are eligible for training and technical assistance. The Community Development Division administers the program at the Kansas Department of Commerce.

"Let's figure out how to get from here to where you want it to be in the future," Sewell said. "And that's really what Salina has done, and they've done it very well."

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Kansas Main Street helps Salina bring businesses lofts downtown