Kendall Whittier is one of the eight premier Main Street’s in America, according to the National Main Street Center’s list of Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) Semifinalists released Tuesday.
Kendall Whittier Main Street was named a 2019 Semifinalist in late 2018 and the 2019 “One to Watch” in March of last year. Out of this year’s semifinalists, three 2020 GAMSA winners will be named at the National Main Street Conference in Dallas on May 18.
“It is an honor to be recognized nationally two years in a row,” said Trent Morrow, Kendall Whittier Main Street Board President and co-owner of Ziegler Art & Frame. “Volunteers have put a lot of hard work into the Kendall Whittier area in the last 10 years, and it’s really produced results.”
Kendall Whittier Main Street is a nonprofit organization that inspires the ongoing revitalization and growth of a historic and cultural neighborhood in Tulsa, striving to transform it back to a thriving, walkable commercial district. Kendall Whittier is a Certified Cultural District.
GAMSA semifinalists were selected from a nationwide pool of accredited Main Street America applicants based on their successful and innovative uses of the Main Street Approach™.
Criteria includes: volunteer, partner, and community engagement; community transformation; commitment to historic preservation; impactful public/private partnerships, entrepreneurship development; people-centered design; and the community’s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“The Great American Main Street Award is a top honor within the commercial district revitalization field,” said Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center. “These eight outstanding semifinalists have demonstrated the impressive economic and community growth that is possible when commercial districts harness the power of the Main Street Approach.”
“They’re a model for Main Street programs across the country working to achieve comprehensive, preservation-based revitalization,” she said.
The other seven programs named 2020 Semifinalists are: Boyne City Main Street (Boyne City, Mich.), Destinations Congress Heights (Washington, D.C.), Main Street Denison (Denison, Texas), Evanston URA/Main Street (Evanston, Wyo.), Greater Ashmont Main Street (Boston, Mass.), Jefferson Matters: Main Street (Jefferson, Iowa) and Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association (Tupelo, Miss.).
In all, 100 communities have been recognized as winners since the award’s inception in 1995.
“We hope to be No. 101,” said Jessica Jackson, Executive Director of Kendall Whittier Main Street. “We’ll find out in May. Until then, we’re just keeping our fingers crossed!”
For more information about the Kendall Whittier Main Street, please call or text 918-633-1934 or email info@visitkendallwhittier.com.
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