Page 104 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2015

do it downtown
Gulfport
story and photos courtesy of
Main Street A new Golden Age in downtown Gulfport
Gulfport Main Street Association
The Gulfport Main
Street Association is leading efforts that have downtown blossoming into a thriving place.
“A key part of downtown Gulfport’s transformation was the Master Facade Grant Program which gave downtown a much needed facelift to attract visitors and renew interest in our economy,” said Main Street Director Laurie J. Toups. “The Streetscape project was also needed to construct complete streets creating a walk-able, live-able downtown community.”
David Parker, the city’s economic development director, immediately noticed the attractive downtown when he came onboard last year. “I believe for a city to be economically healthy, we need an attractive, economically
healthy, vibrant downtown,” he said. “Visitors to any city will seek out the downtown to get a glimpse of the town as a whole. The downtown is very much like the kitchen in someone’s home...it’s where people gravitate first. When the downtown has an energy, it spreads throughout the rest of town, and it’s the reputation visitors will take away.”
Main Street Association president and charter member Johnny Olsen says the two most important factors
in downtown’s rebirth are the Facade and Streetscape projects. “That enticed development and our next challenge
is retail and downtown living with walkable services,” he said. “We’ll see those fall in line when we get more people living there.”
Olsen, an architect with LPK
Architects, also hopes to see al fresco dining downtown, something that is currently not allowed.
Following Hurricane Katrina, Gulfport addressed the storm’s physical devastation and years of neglect by creating the Facade Master Plan, a public-private partnership project
that was the largest facade program awarded in the nation’s history.
“$4.425 million was funded and overseen by the Gulfport Main Street Association, and the result has been prodigious,” Toups said. “The Master Facade Grant has been the catalyst for ushering downtown Gulfport into a new Golden Age.”
The partnership included the City of Gulfport, Gulfport Main Street Association and dozens of private property owners who repaired,
104 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • August 2015
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ABOVE: ANCHOR FEST comes to Jones Park in Downtown Gulfport September 26 and 27. It will include a wooden boat show, music, children’s activities, a Seafood BBQ contest and more.