Salisbury, North Carolina has a rich heritage of history, cultural arts, and agriculture. It also has citizens fiercely loyal to their community. Downtown is vibrant with an interesting mix of retail and service businesses, government offices, and upper floor apartments. Buildings and streets are well maintained, with benches and trees lining the sidewalks. Parking lots are heavily landscaped. There are no overhead wires in sight.

It is clear that Salisbury?EUR??,,????'???s downtown is succeeding while most others around the state- and the country ?EUR??,,????'??? are struggling. Why? Mayor Kluttz thinks it is Salisbury?EUR??,,????'???s active participation as a Main Street city, which began in 1980.

Into this picture came Jim Dunn. A native of Salisbury, Mr. Dunn has been a planner with the State?EUR??,,????'???s Division of Community Assistance sine the mid 1960s. He has a keen interest in architecture and preservation and was a founding member of the Historic Salisbury Foundation. Elected to City Council in 1977, Mr. Dunn saw historic preservation as an economic development tool.

When North Carolina was among the 6 states selected, Jim Dunn lobbied hard for Salisbury to apply. City Council took his advice, and Salisbury was one of 5 cities chosen to participate in the program. The Landscape Master Plan, by landscape architect Ed Evans, addressed issues such as improving entryways, beautification and overall streetscape improvements for downtown. The Community Appearance Commission was formed, in part, to implement this plan. Soon, with the guidance of the North Carolina Main Street Center, and the infusion of wealth and security to many citizens, the City?EUR??,,????'???s orientation evolved from being one with a limited role to one with a concern for the city?EUR??,,????'???s appearance and preservation of its history.

Early on, the City supported the Appearance Commission?EUR??,,????'???s efforts by hiring landscape architect Jane Ritchie. A snow and ice storm in 1987 provided the opportunity to begin implementing the Landscape Master Plan. Faced with unpopular and severely damaged trees, Jane and Joe worked with the businesses and various branches of City government to develop a program to replant the streetscape and install decorative paving. Jane and Joe began by meeting with each business owner and looking at each property to site the trees. Most trees are planted at property lines, allowing unimpeded access to front entrances and clear view of building signs which are generally placed above the entrances. They selected types of deciduous trees with open habits such as Zelkova and Gingko to allow viewing of the storefronts. The same species of trees is planted throughout each block with another species on the next block for continuity within the block and species diversification throughout the City.

A complementary program was the City?EUR??,,????'???s Facade Grant Incentive Program, which encourages improvements of downtown building facades. The Appearance Commission?EUR??,,????'???s Building Committee took over administering this program, which provides a 50-50 match (up to $1,000) to business and property owners. The Program now has its own lone item in the City budget, and receives between $17,000 and $20,000 each year. The numbers have convinced skeptics that the matching grants are seed money, encouraging recipients to invest more than they would have otherwise. Since 1980, 171 buildings have been rehabilitated, with over $17 million spent privately on new construction.

This huge private investment demonstrates the pride that citizens take in their downtown architecture. The Historic Salisbury Foundation has a revolving fund to purchase significant properties that require preservation of the building?EUR??,,????'???s historic integrity and find new owners to purchase and rehabilitate them.

By 1988, most of the properties in the Main Street program area had been rehabilitated in keeping with their architecture. The Wallace building, however, remained a prominent blighted downtown property. City Council set the rigorous goal in 1989 of restoring this property, thus implementing the 1983 Economic Development Plan, which became the Plaza Project. Council understood that this building, could once again, when rehabilitated, become a source of pride for Salisbury.

Today a public park is being developed, largely funded by donations, on the site of the former First Presbyterian Church where the historic steeple stands as a reminder that significant buildings and sites can still be lost. Donations include an historic gazebo, which originally was in a public cemetery, a memorial garden with a fountain, and plants for landscaping. The success of the Main Street program in Salisbury shows a unified vision based on historic preservation, economic vitality, and high standards.