Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | November 9, 2020 | wbjournal.com F A C T B O O K M A I N S T R E E T S Walking Main Street W hen it comes to main streets in Central Massachusetts, town officials uniformly agree: A healthy main street is where foot traffic is king. "e height was in the '60s," said Webster Town Administrator Doug Willardson. "People would tell us that the sidewalks on a Friday night were like four-people deep." At the time, Willardson said, Web- ster's Main Street, a brick-laden stretch of closely-knit two to four-story shop fronts, had everything from hardware shops to barbers and shoe stores. at's since changed, as it has in many towns in Central Massachusetts and beyond, as local economies have struggled to maintain their footholds Central Mass. communities – including Webster, Westborough and Leominster – are seeking a revival of their downtown shopping districts BY MONICA BUSCH Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer in the face of multiple recessions in the last three decades, as well as the advent of online shopping and increased access to national chains. e buildings are still there; the peo- ple not so much. Webster's team effort For Webster, its struggles were tied to major industrial plant closures in the latter half of the last century, said Willardson. As that happened, town residents were less interested in going downtown. en, big box stores moved in, making it harder for small, local businesses in the downtown area to survive. "Probably the low point was early 2000s, where downtown Webster was a place to definitely avoid," Willardson said. At that point, retail storefronts went unrented and the residential parts of the downtown area became known for drugs and other illegal activities, he said. But now, with downtown store- front occupancy at roughly 50% and multiple new businesses opening, that appears to be shiing. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, there were tenants interested in occu- pying nearly every vacant retail space, said Willardson, and that interest is returning some eight months later. A semi-upscale Southern American restaurant, Stave & Still, opened this summer to great community fanfare, a CBD store set up shop, and an Italian restaurant from ompson, Conn. is slated to open soon, all within the same stretch of street. And more is on the horizon, not just for the vacant storefronts, but also for the streets and surrounding neighbor- hood. Willardson pointed to increased seasonal planters, plans for a dog park, and increased event planning for the still-new French River Park, which sits between a row of Main Street build- ings and the French River which flows behind them. "We're trying to make it look nice. And I think people appreciate things like that," Willardson said. Ann Morgan, Webster's director of planning and economic development, attributed the push to a confluence of forces, citing the town's selectmen, business and property owners, its economic development committee and the Webster Dudley Oxford Chamber of Commerce. "It's a giant team effort," Morgan said. "It's very collaborative." Morgan and Willardson said they're hoping to identify a member of the community who will take charge amid all of the different interested parties. "Webster has always struggled with money problems," said Willardson. "So I think that was certainly part of it. And that there was no real go-getter as the focus point or the leader to push it forward." The sidewalk in downtown Westborough offers businesses the opportunity to interact with pedestrians. PHOTO/EDD COTE Webster County: Worcester Population: 11,412 Year incorporated: 1832

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