A Cause for Celebration... Because That’s What the Main Street Manager Does

March 2019 Main Street Matters

By Sarah O’Brien, Texas Downtown Association Board Member

Sarah served as a Texas Main Street manager for over a decade and is a proud two-time past president of the Texas Downtown Association. She has recently embarked on her Collaborative Development Collective journey in hopes of finding focus and passionately serving a new purpose. 

Anice B. Read, the first lady of the Texas Historical Commission (THC), was a force to be reckoned with. Those who knew her and those who have since followed in her footsteps are better suited for success because of her tireless efforts and unwavering commitment to service to others. Millions of dollars in reinvestment, thousands of preserved buildings, and hundreds of transformed communities, are part of the legacy she left behind. Generations of Main Streeters have seen what exemplary leadership looks like thanks to Anice. Legend has it that she turned into a revolutionist after accepting the challenge of bringing Main Street to Texas. Hers is a revolutionary tale, so grand that justice nor victory can be served here alone. Perhaps this is just one entry along the way attempting to honor her legacy. Anice’s excitement and energy can still be felt, if sought. Here’s to working collectively together to keep the passion ignited and to her power of persuasion which is gifted to any of us who are inspired to take the journey.

Anice B. Read believed that successes of every size were to be celebrated. In that spirit of celebration, we invite you, Texas Main Street Program (TMSP) managers, to join the Texas Downtown Association (TDA) board of directors and staff in a new commitment to celebration. Imagine the possibilities if collectively we embarked on a lifelong revolutionary rally in support of TDA and TMSP. A celebration of this magnitude would consistently shine a spotlight on Texas downtowns and the inspiring stories they have to tell. Perhaps such an event will invoke memories that veteran managers may have forgotten, or inspire stories yet to be shared, and instill a dedication for decisive action in downtown revitalization. We envision a celebration of all Texas Main Street managers that would provide a glimpse into the future and honor our tremendous past. Celebrate. Because that’s what Texas Main Street managers do. In fact, this October in Georgetown, TDA will be combining the President’s Award Gala and Anice Read Auction. This event will highlight current grant fund projects and announce new grants in a one-evening celebration to better celebrate Anice’s legacy.

The woman responsible for bringing Main Street to Texas understood that transformational and cultural change doesn’t happen in a silo. Alongside the state agency and national program, the TDA grew from a need. Originally, communities were only required to participate in the TMSP for three years, resulting in many exiting after their initial commitment was over. By 1984, three years after the program’s inception, Anice realized that both the agency and local towns who exited the program would need services such as ongoing technical expertise and education. In order to ensure the TMSP remained relevant, downtown champions and advocates outside the framework of state government were critically important. The TMSP needed a lifelong partner for the “seemingly impossible task” of assisting with downtown revitalization at every level. In 1985, a non-profit organization designed to meet those needs was born that brought together the smallest rural communities, the largest cities, and everyone in between. We like to imagine that this achievement must have been cause for an immediate celebration of success.

Education & Training: From the onset, training and education were engrained into the movement. After attending the National Trust’s initial manager training in 1981, Anice returned home insistent on providing a much more rigorous training opportunity for her Texas managers. The original “Doctor Downtown,” infamous for donning scrubs at the National Town Meetings, was adamant that managers become experts. From grant writing and public speaking, to gorilla retail recruitment and memorization of the Secretary of the Interior’s standards (because according to Anice that’s just what you had to do), Texas Main Street managers under Anice Read became downtown experts. That spirit of training, while perhaps a bit less strenuous, is still being emulated today. Summer workshop and THC’s Real Places conference are great opportunities for new managers and seasoned professionals to expand their skill sets. Anice’s training ground for experts also lives on through the annual Texas Downtown Conference and regional roundtables. Nationally recognized speakers, award- winning programs, and advanced technical know-how provide downtowners, tourism, chamber, and economic development professionals with much-needed expertise. If you haven’t attended the conference or a roundtable yet, or maybe it’s been a few years since you had the budget or capacity to attend, consider this as Anice’s whisper to inspire action, even if you have to raise the budget funds yourself (which was commonplace until the mid-90s). And we are reminded of the old adage for managers to get out of town on a regular basis. So, here’s your cause and a mission to celebrate education and successes of Texas downtowns that aren’t your own every year at one of TDA’s educational programs.

Technical Expertise: The resource team, professional staff, and the network that the TMSP provides to participating communities set them apart from other cities that are trying to bring their downtowns back to life without an established framework. New cities are always given a roadmap at the onset of their journey. Known as a resource team visit, this practice continues to this day. During a recent visit with Julian Read, he said of his late wife, “Anice chartered her own course. She was focused. Once she set her mind to something, that was that. It was going to happen.” No truer statement reflects the persistent and unyielding mannerisms in which the fearless leader secured the support of the Rouse Company to serve during the early years of the resource visits because she believed they were essential. Anice didn’t accept “no” the first or second visit when seeking their support. Yet eventually, like so many others before them, a hesitant yes was finally given to Anice Read on her third visit. The shopping mall giants donated 15 days of corporate time annually as they sent professional retail staff on every Texas resource team, year after year. Similar to today’s teams, architects, retailers, and tourism professionals were sent in as experts. One does have to chuckle when eventually realizing that some of those experts were unknowingly being trained by Anice. She routinely secured architects with no preservation training because that’s all she could find. Later, she would marvel when something like a transom window removal would appear in their work for the first time. Experts learn from people in the field, just like today’s managers learn from one another. The never-ending duty of a Main Street manager is seemingly impossible. It is affected by economic and political conditions outside of one’s control. It tends to be cyclical, full of extreme highs and incredible lows. Thankfully, TDA’s Downtown Assessment Program is available to provide expertise tailored to a community and their current needs. An assessment should be considered an update to an existing resource team road map. Who doesn’t need an injection of renewed purpose, passion, inspiration, and knowhow to address their challenges? That’s exactly what a downtown assessment does. Today’s team members are experts in their own right. And the honor of serving on a team is so revered in the industry that often there is a waiting list to donate your time. So, let us join you to celebrate and provide a fresh perspective on your community through our Downtown Assessment Program, we are sure to learn from you as well. Anice celebrated the power that outside experts had on a community’s toughest critics, and so do we.

Advocacy: Lastly, no good celebration should occur without support, advocacy, and Texas sheet cake. Financial support, political capital, and downtown advocacy were critical components to the success of Texas Main Street in the early years and remain essential today. Quite honestly, the legendary cake became a proven method to secure funding from the legislature, a constant reminder to always say thank you in some way, an example of what it means to be a servant leader, and Anice B. Read’s avenue to ignite a revolution in rural communities and urban cores across the state. The first Texas Main Street cake appeared at the Capitol after the House appropriations committee slashed the program’s funding. Anice placed a note on the cake that said, “This is Main Street cake. This is the quality that you’ll see from the Main Street program by funding it this afternoon,” and the rest is history.

Alongside the TMSP, the TDA board of directors continuously strive to foster professional excellence in downtown revitalization for our members. Our growing network of experts are armed and ready to support Main Street communities and rally behind the issues that affect the difficult work that you all do. Engagement in the TDA programs and services designed specifically to enrich Texas Main Street should be a no-brainer for today’s managers. TDA is excited to rally the troops and champion the causes for celebrations happening in downtowns across the state every day. We hope that Texas Main Street cake, Anice Read’s legacy, and the Texas Downtown Association become a part of all that your Main Street does to achieve success.

Special thanks to Julian Read for taking the time to meet with me to further discover the impact that his beloved wife had on Main Streets, preservation, downtowns, and the great State of Texas. ~ Sarah O’Brien