Electra Main Street Program
The City of Electra's Main Street Program grew from community concern about the future of Electra. Local volunteers, supported by City government, applied for admission, and in October of 1997, Electra joined four other towns as official 1998 Texas Main Street Cities, beginning a partnership with the Texas Historical Commission's (THC) Main Street Program that has focused state expertise and local volunteerism on the Main Street Approach™ to community revitalization through good design, effective organization, business development and support, and promotion of Electra.
That approach led Main Street Electra’s Advisory Board to adopt the following Mission Statement:
The mission of Electra’s Main Street program is to foster revitalization and preservation of historic Electra by organizing community efforts to
- Assure quality design of public spaces and private properties
- Encourage economic vitality through business retention, recruitment, and development
- Promote Electra and its economy through activities that instill community pride and welcome visitors
Over the years Main Street Advisory Board members and volunteers have spearheaded drives to relight the Christmas Star and the downtown derrick and maintain annual holiday lighting; to provide street furniture and street lamps for downtown; to finance and maintain decorative street lamp banners; to get signage on US 287; to support improvements for the Grand Theatre; to develop small incentive grant programs for improvements to commercial property within the Downtown Historical District; and to develop a weekly free tour of the Old City Light Plant which led to Electra's inclusion in the Texas State Travel Guide since 2003. The group also has to its credit the development of a small business, Main Street Market, a 2002 holiday market designed to provide additional holiday shopping opportunities downtown and a showcase for local home-based businesses. At the end of the holiday season, the project became a private business operated until 2007 as The Market at 222 W. Cleveland. In addition, two downtown sidewalk replacement projects have been financed with Texas Capital Fund Main Street Improvements grants of $150,000 each, the first completed in the fall of 2002, and the second in the summer of 2007. Fundraising for the Grand Theatre in summer of 2008 triggered the organization of the Ole Grand Theatre Thespian Society Players and performances of an old-time medicine show that raised $4,500 for a new theatre floor installed in 2009.
Click here to see Part I of Inside Texoma's show on the Electra Main Street Program, courtesy of Channel 6, KAUZ in Wichita Falls.
Click here to see Part II.