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The roots of the CWDA go back as far as the early 70’s
when Yea Olde Village Promoters got together to form an organization
promoting the downtown. Unfortunately that organization fell apart over the
years due to a lack of direction and eventually a lack of interest.
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In the late 1990’s the Canal Winchester Downtown Business
Association (CWDBA) was created and lasted a few years as well but
eventually suffered the same fate. The CWDBA is credited with starting Heart
of Our Village, a newsletter that is still in circulation today.
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In the spring of 1998 several of the downtown business
owners decided that the downtown needed to be promoted more than it was at
the time. Mayor Hall was approached and asked if she could help. Mayor Hall
got them in touch with Downtown Ohio Inc. (DOI). DOI hosted a meeting for
the downtown business community. DOI explained the Main Street program or
"Four Point Approach" to economic revitalization. The Main Street
program is a grass roots effort. The "Four Points" are the
committees of the organization; Design, Economic Restructuring, Organization
and Promotions, which in turn gives a set direction and purpose to a
revitalization group. The Main Street program relies heavily on volunteers
and financial contributions from the Public, Private and Philanthropic
sectors of the community. In other words, the effort is supported by the
whole community.
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Then the Mayor and four business owners worked to plan a
kick off event for the new CWDA called Celebrate
Downtown, which was a very
successful event. This street party was held the Thursday prior to July 4th
and served as the annual celebration of the 1998 founding date. The event was later canceled (lack of volunteers).
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The organization got a lot of enthusiastic financial support
from the business community in the form of membership dollars from both
downtown businesses and businesses outside of the downtown and concerned
citizens.
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The Promotions committee got started right away on creating
an event that would bring people downtown on Saturdays in the summer. This
was the beginning of the Farmers Market with a
Harvest Festival as the
climax of the Farmers Market season.
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The first Farmers Market was a great success for the vendors
and the residents of Canal Winchester. The CWDA decided to continue it
yearly. With a steady stream of income from membership and the Farmers
Market, the organization was able to continue with the work of economic
revitalization by promoting the downtown as a great place to live, shop,
work and invest.
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The interest in the market grew so much that a market in the
spring was added. Spring Meet in the Street.
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The CWDA sets up a booth at each event and distributes
information about the organization as well as provides information about
businesses in the downtown.
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Because of the promotional efforts of the CWDA, new
businesses have come to the downtown. All the businesses
that are open on Saturday mornings during the market season say that the
market helps their business.
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The CWDA continues to follow the "Four Points" to
economic revitalization and has since become a non-profit charitable
organization.
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The efforts of the CWDA have qualified the community to
become an Ohio and Nationally recognized Main Street community and the only Main Street community in
Franklin County, which we feel, is quite a prestigious designation.
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Currently the CWDA provides the lead role in the
revitalization effort of downtown Canal Winchester. CWDA recently changed the name to Main Street Canal Winchester, better reflecting our mission.
