Doris Messer, Community Development Director for the City of Llano, attended a workshop for Main Street managers the week of June 11th in Brenham, Texas. Brenham is a highly accomplished Texas Main Street community that has participated in the program continuously since 1999. Messer stated that “The sessions were very informative and motivating to see first-hand the projects which have been undertaken in Brenham, and to learn from experts in the historical preservation field.”

 After two extended training sessions over two days, new managers were joined by existing Main Street managers from all across Texas and they participated together in Main Street summer training that included sessions on historic preservation, design, community and downtown planning, fundraising and economic development tools. There was also a full-day preservation seminar sponsored by Preserve America that focused on developing upstairs spaces in historic downtowns. The four-day training session also included tours in the downtown to visit historically significant projects and properties such as Toubin Park, which includes a historic cistern that was once part of the city’s public cistern system; and the Simon Theater, a 1925 Classic Revival that is under restoration.

“The Main Street concept leans heavily on capacity building through education,” said Debra Farst, Texas Main Street state coordinator. “Making educated decisions and undertaking Main Street projects at the local level almost always includes collecting information from and researching what other communities have done. The Main Street training sessions held each year focus on providing information and useful tools that can be taken back and directly utilized in the community.”