| The National Main
Street USA Conference was held in Albuquerque in
May. Rich Williams and his staff from New Mexico
MainStreet did us proud. It was a close to
perfect event with lots of activities, exciting
sessions and a great opportunity to learn how
hundreds of other Main Street Communities are
changing the face of Downtowns. Governor
Richardson spoke at the Plenary Session (1600
people from all over North America) and pledged
$2 million dollars to the State program. He also
singled out Las Cruces as a role model for the
State. Las Cruces was well represented at the
Conference with City staff, LCDT staff as well as
LCDT Board Members |
| Victor Villarreal is a
new team member of the Downtown revitalization
effort. Victor has recently been hired by the
City of Las Cruces as an urban designer, and one
of his major duties will be to help move the
Downtown project forward. He has a Bachelor of
Arts Degree in Ssspanish and a Masters Degree in
Urban and Regional Planning and Design. Victor
and Celeste cam here from Denver, Colorado, and
they want to make our Downtown a "happening
place". Like Ann and John Darder they plan
to live downtown. |
| La Morenitas, a New
Mexican restraurant has opened in the la Esquina
Building on Las Cruces Avenue (formerly Ray's Old
Fashion Kitchen). The owners have done a fine job
in making the space cheerful and attractive. The
food and service is excellent, so stop by for
lunch or dineer and welcome this ne business to
Downtown. |
| Amy O'Neil, Docutor of
Oriental Medicine, will be opening an office in
the Sunshine Building at 200 W. Las Cruces Avenue
in July. She is a graduate of both Maayfield High
School and New Mexico State University. Amy's
parents are John and Ann Darden who have a
residence in the Downtown. We salute them as
pioneers and encourage others to make plans for
Downtown housing. |
| LCDT salutes
volunteers Annette West and Sandy Blann who are
soing an inventory of all properties and
businesses downtown. This is an arduouse task,
but so necessary for a market analysis and for a
marketing plan. Volunteers are always a blessing.
Add Joanne Loleit to our long list of helpers.
She is helping with our bookkeeping and making a
difference. Board member Carol MacAllister has
also joined the office worker-base as she has
re-organized our filing system and is taking
charge of our membership database. Her efforts
constitute almost daily visits to our office. Ed
Mitchell joins the team a LCDT He services and
repairs and does pro-bono consulting for our LCDT
computers, printers, and all other magiic
machines. Millennium Technologies is the name of
his business and he is our personal angel. Call
him at 571-8106 |
| Independent Sector, a
national colalition working on behalf of
non-profit organizations, released ffigures
showing the "Value of a Volunteer hour"
in 2003 as over $17 dollars an hour. We did our
math and figured out that with staff, Board of
Directors, and other volunteer's we clocked over
$300,000 dollars in volunteer hours in the past
year. Isn't that amazing??? |
| Coffee
anyone? Stop by Don Patricio's Coffee House
located in COAS My Bookstore. The Beckett's are
now running this happy little haunt, and have
named it after Pat Beckett, hence Don Patricio's.
Veronica and Mike Beckett will feature wonderful
coffee, pastries, and all kinds of good advice on
where to purchase new and used books. |
| The White Raaven
Studio has opened at 425 West Griggs. The Border
Artist and Friends will be on display though the
end of July. Drop by and see some of Las Cruces'
finest artists. |
| Downtown Las Cruces
constitutes a cultural corridor with the Black
Box Theater, the Community Theater, the Branigan
Cultural Center, the Fine Arts Museum, the
Branigan Public Library and the soon to be
renovated Rio Grande Theater. The COAS Bookstore
is the largest used bookstore in the Southwest
and is a destination point for hundreds of
visitors. White's Music Box serves three states
as well as Doņa Ana County. The Museum of
Natural History has plans to re-locate to the old
post office building that now houses magistrate
and municipal court. They received a $50,000
planning grant that recommends the post office as
the number one location in the City of Las
Cruces. The cultural aspects of the
downtown area will be an economic development
incentive to attract retail and specialty shops. |
| Downtown
revitalization was listed as a priority by the
2003 City Council and continues to have strong
support from the majority of the Council. |
| Las Cruces Downtown
has received planning grants from the McCune
Foundation, the City of Las Cruces, and the
Stocker Foundation. |
| Las Cruces Downtown
has worked for more than two years with a full
board of 27 committed members and two staff
persons who work full-time WITHOUT a salary. The
Executive Director was honored by the State of
New Mexico for downtown revitalization effort
with The Governor's Award for Public Service in
2002, and in 2003 by the YWCA Reach Award
for Community Service. |
| The membership of Las
Cruces Downtown continues to grow and
counts more than 300 individual and
corporate members, 70% of these members are
downtown stakeholders. Las Cruces Downtown
received over a $300,000 in-kind donations
in 2003/2004. |
| The New Mexico State
legislative delegation strongly supports downtown
revitalization as was evidenced in bi-partisan
funding for 2003. |
| Due to statewide
interest in the downtown revitalization project,
the New Mexico Historic Preservation Department
has asked Las Cruces Downtown to host their
annual conference to be held in Las Cruces in
April of 2004. |
| Las Cruces Downtown
wrote a grant to apply for membership of
Mainstreet, USA, a division of The National Trust
For Historic Preservation and Las Cruces
Downtown is now a member with full benefits. |
| On September 9, 2003,
Bob McCabe from Sites Southwest, returned to Las
Cruces and unveiled his final plan which included
a proposed action plan.. |
| The LCDT staff has
published and mailed the Summer 2004, Issue of
the Voice of Downtown to the contacts and members
of Las Cruces Downtown . If you wish to be placed
on our mailing list, you can e-mail us at lcdt@zianet.com
or telephone the office at 525-1955. |
