64.6 Downtown, based in Fort Smith, has rebranded. The business development, arts and culture, and special events organization will now be called Main Street Fort Smith. Executive Director Amanda Hager said the new branding helps align the organization with statewide and national groups.
Amanda Hager: We really have to look at a more holistic approach to creating diverse commerce in downtown Fort Smith. You can’t just do one thing. So that led us to Main Street Arkansas, which is an affiliate of Main Street America. Being an accredited Main Street—accreditation we received back in 2020—opens us up to many resources. Grant money, for one, because we are a nonprofit that does amazing things for the community and helps our business and property owners downtown. So, we need funds to do that. Accreditation opens us up to new grant and funding opportunities, and we also get a lot of great training for our organization. It gives us structure. They have a four-point approach: promotion, design, organization, and economic vitality.
For promotion, we have the Levitt AMP Fort Smith Music Series. We program that free concert series—10 concerts a year for downtown Fort Smith. We also have other events like Ghouls on Garrison and some Christmas activities. Throughout the year, we program different events to draw people downtown. Then we look at design. We have a historic downtown, and part of the Main Street Arkansas mission is to preserve historic downtowns while also making them community hubs. In the 1970s and 1980s, when everything was moving to malls, downtowns across America started to die. Main Street America began at that time, and we followed that pattern. It’s all steeped in preservation. We want to preserve our historic integrity and unique historical significance, but we also want it to look good. We ensure the facades of our historic buildings are maintained, that we have attractive trash cans, landscaping and overall beautification—all part of that design.
For organization, Main Street Fort Smith is a connector for many different organizations downtown. I am very active with city members in many departments, the Central and Business Improvement District, and the Downtown Business Owners Association. We work closely with other attractions like the U.S. Marshals Museum, the Fort Smith Museum of History, the Clayton House, and the Bonneville House. We bring these organizations together, and we’re also the go-to when someone isn’t sure who to call. We help property and business owners connect with the right people. All of this is meant to create economic vitality. That’s the four-point approach of Main Street, and it fits our organization’s vision perfectly. That’s why we started the process to become an accredited Main Street. When I took on this position, it seemed like the right time to rebrand, and it’s been great. We’ve had enormous support from city administrators, downtown stakeholders, business owners, and community members. They all agree that the rebranding makes sense.
Matthew Moore: Our audience is certainly familiar with the work being done in downtown Fort Smith, but a name they’re probably most familiar with is Talicia Richardson. You are succeeding her in this position. What does it look like for you to follow in her footsteps?
Hager: Talicia is just incredible. She has done so much for our community, and she’s not going anywhere—she’s staying in Fort Smith and pivoting to a different point in her career. She still loves downtown. She was just in my office today helping me with something. She’s incredible, and I want to continue fostering the amazing relationships she’s already created. I want to be that person for property and business owners and different stakeholders, just as she was. I want to continue her good work, but I also want to add value by telling our story. I have a background in media and education, and I love storytelling. I want to tout all the incredible things this organization has done and all the things we hope to do in the future. It’s about keeping the train on the tracks and really telling the story of what we’re doing in downtown Fort Smith—not just us as an organization but also all the other groups working to make it happen. There are many people in downtown and across Fort Smith who have a hand in the revitalization of downtown.
Moore: We’re seeing a rebranding of the name, a new face involved as the executive director, but programming, for the most part, looks similar to what we’ve already seen. Are we going to see an elevation in the amount of programming? What is your vision for making things even better than they already are?
Hager: I’d like to see attendance at some of our existing events increase. That’s going to be a focus for me. The Levitt AMP Fort Smith Music Series, our fall series, kicks off on Aug. 30. We did five concerts in the spring and will do five in the fall. It’s a free community event. In the spring, we had some weather issues that affected attendance, so we’re hoping for gorgeous weather. We’ve got incredible acts lined up, so I’m really focused on getting more eyes and ears on this amazing free community opportunity. A big piece for me is figuring out how to get more people to attend and know about our programming. Besides programming, there are also some cool projects in the works. For example, we’re working on an alleyway activation with light and art installations—no official word yet, but that’s a little teaser for you. There are many cool things I’m working on, including picking up where Talicia left off and starting new initiatives. We want to utilize all the incredible space we have, and that’s something I’m really focused on.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The authoritative record of KUAF programming is the audio record.
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