San Marcos Named Semifinalist For National Main Street Award

A national jury selected this year’s 10 semifinalists from a nationwide pool of accredited applicants based on their successful and innovative uses of the Main Street Approach.

San Marcos has been named a 2019 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) Semifinalist by the National Main Street Center. Winners will be announced at the opening plenary of the Main Street Now Conference in Seattle, Washington on March 25, 2019.

“The San Marcos Main Street Program is honored to be a semifinalist for this prestigious national award,” said San Marcos Main Street Program Manager Samantha Armbruster. “We are beyond grateful to have locals, business owners, community organizations and the City of San Marcos help make our program’s vision into reality!”

The 2019 Great American Main Street Award recognizes exceptional Main Street America programs whose successes serve as a model for comprehensive, historic preservation-based commercial district revitalization.

A national jury selected this year’s 10 semifinalists from a nationwide pool of accredited applicants based on their successful and innovative uses of the Main Street Approach.

Criteria include: strength of the Main Street America program in creating an exciting place to live, work, play and visit; commitment to historic preservation; implementation of model partnerships, and demonstrated success of the Main Street Approach.

Since its inception in 1986, the San Marcos Main Street Program has remained one of the longest running Main Street programs in the state and is the only semifinalist chosen from Texas for the 2019 Great American Main Street Award.

The vision of the San Marcos Main Street Program is to foster a downtown that is a unique and culturally vibrant destination, where local business thrive and people of all ages can connect, create and celebrate. The collective relationships and ecosystems in downtown San Marcos exemplify ambitious reaction to growth, and the Main Street Program is often the neighborhood champion that supports each stakeholder and encourages business owners to evolve into neighbors and colleagues.

This commitment to community engagement has resulted in over 11,000 volunteer hours logged between 2015 and 2018. Within the same time frame, over $58.5 million dollars have been reinvested in downtown.