Historic Main Streets and City Centers

Windsor, VT: CI has been focussing on the Town of Windsor's Main Street since 1996. It has guided the Town towards a dramatic renaissance. CI assembled a multidisciplinary team to conduct a day long planning "charrette" followed by research to assess:

• The strengths and weaknesses of Main Street's business climate
• The community's role in the regional marketplace
• Household shopping patterns in the regional market
• Impact of big box, discount merchandisers on the local Main Street
• Consumer perceptions of Main Street
• Transportation and parking questions
• Restoration of historic structures

The CI-led team reported their findings and recommendations in a Main Street Action Plan that still guides revitalization today. CI assisted the Town in securing designation from the Vermont Downtown Program and developed the Machine Tool Trail, a cultural heritage tourism promotion. Windsor's Main Street is in the midst of a building boom, sparked by the designation and the related recruitment of a Mascoma Savings Bank. The bank has just begun a substantial project to remove and replace one blighted building, restore a second, and develop 35 new parking spaces (rendering shown above). Only one vacant storefront remains on Main Street, and the retail space being developed by the bank has three potential tenants vying for it. CI has assisted in packaging over $2 million from public and private funding sources, to date, for these projects. Members of the team included: David Raphael and Land•Works, Tim Burke from David G. White Associates, Smith and Vansant Architects, and Judy Hayward of Historic Windsor, Inc.

Community through the Arts
Other Projects