6160002 ACR 21-222, Shaw Main Streets 2016 Great American Main Street Award Recognition Resolution of 2016

A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION 

21-222

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

June 7, 2016        

 

To recognize and honor Shaw Main Streets for its selection as a national 2016 Great American Main Street Award winner and for its many contributions to the Shaw community and the District.

 

 

WHEREAS, on May 23, 2016, Shaw Main Streets received the 2016 Great American Main Street Award (“GAMSA”) at the Main Street Now Conference;

 

WHEREAS, for the last 21 years, Main Street America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center (“NMSC”), annually celebrates the country’s best examples of comprehensive commercial district revitalization with the GAMSA;  

 

WHEREAS, NMSC evaluates GAMSA winners based upon the strength of the Main Street in creating an exciting place to live, work, play and visit; commitment to historic preservation; implementation of model partnerships, and demonstrated success of the Main Street Approach;

 

WHEREAS, NMSC chose Shaw Main Streets for the exemplary manner in which the organization has led the neighborhood’s revitalization and historic preservation efforts and its success in actively involving its multicultural community, cultivating tech businesses, and supporting the arts;

 

WHEREAS, since its founding in 2003, Shaw Main Streets has led the neighborhood's recovery from the devastating 1968 riots and the decades of disinvestment that followed while infusing the community’s historic character with new energy and resources;

 

WHEREAS, Shaw Main Streets has helped the neighborhood flourish, reduced the retail vacancy rate from 20% to 1%, helped over 200 new businesses open, and attracted approximately $3 billion in private and public investment;

 

WHEREAS, Shaw Main Street’s efforts and advocacy include the restoration of the Howard Theatre, the creation of flexible work space for 400 start-up businesses in the former Wonder Bread factory, the incorporation of the restored 1881 O Street Market building into the catalytic City Market at O development, the addition of thousands of new units of housing while experiencing no net loss of affordable housing, and the creation of Art All Night DC, a popular overnight arts festival that draws visitors from all over the metropolitan region each year;

 

WHEREAS, Shaw Main Streets has championed the growth of the DC Main Streets program and pioneered the Clean and Safe Team programs that are now active throughout Washington, D.C.;

 

WHEREAS, Shaw Main Streets is a designated DC Main Streets local program funded in part by the Department of Small and Local Business Development;

 

WHEREAS, Shaw Main Streets has been led by Alexander M. Padro since its founding, as the first Board Chair and then as Executive Director since 2004;

 

WHEREAS, the Shaw Main Streets Board of Directors, including Chair Gretchen Wharton, Executive Director Alexander M. Padro, and hundreds of local volunteers work together to achieve Shaw Main Streets’ mission; and

 

WHEREAS, Shaw Main Streets' mission is “to preserve and restore the diverse, historic environment of Shaw's 7th and 9th Street commercial corridors, offering residents and visitors a better place to live, work, shop, play, and pray”.

 

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Shaw Main Streets 2016 Great American Main Street Award Recognition Resolution of 2016”.

 

            Sec. 2. The Council recognizes Shaw Main Streets, its Board of Directors, and its hundreds of local volunteers, for the achievement of a 2016 Great American Main Street Award and acknowledges the organization’s many contributions to the Shaw community and the District.

 

            Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.