ISHPEMING – The Ishpeming Main Street program is no more. On Wednesday night the City Council eliminated the program. City Manager Alan Bakalarski addressed the issue in a letter to the Council members.
“After review of the benefits of belonging to the Michigan Main Street Program, the Downtown Development Authority is recommending that the City Council terminate the Michigan Main Street Agreement,” he stated. “The impression many have in the community is that this is only a program for Main Street businesses, which is a detriment to the entire business community working together.”
Wednesday morning, about 37 citizens met at the city hall to discuss the option. Several city council members also attended. The top concern was that the decision to leave the program would affect future state grants.
Ishpeming Main Street Director Dan Mitchell said that he had been in contact with state officials who told him that the City would still be eligible for the same grants if the agreement were terminated. Mitchell added that the Michigan Main Street officials did note that they hoped Ishpeming would leave the option open to again become a program participant. Officials believe the Main Street program unnecessarily divided the DDA District.
“The DDA District bounderies encompass all of the commercial district in the City of Ishpeming – the highway and downtown both,” Mitchell said. “It’s a big District but (eliminating the Main Street program) eliminates that artificial boundary between those groups right now.”
Mitchell noted that he hopes this move will ease the perceived rivalry between the businesses along the U.S. 41 highway corridor and the downtown businesses.
“We’ll have all businesses in the District hopefully working together to promote Ishpeming,” Mitchell said. “There’s been this ‘we’ versus ‘they’ mentality for some time. It’s a cooperative effort to promote the whole area – not just the Downtown or the Country Village.”
The Main Street agreement will be terminated upon a 30-day notice to the State. The Council also voted to appoint Mitchell as the new director of the DDA.
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