HOUSE MEMORIAL 19

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Thomas C. Taylor

A MEMORIAL

CELEBRATING TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF MAIN STREET HISTORIC AND TRADITIONAL TOWN CENTER, VILLAGE PLAZA AND COURTHOUSE SQUARE ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AND REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO DECLARE AUGUST 14, 2010 "NEW MEXICO MAIN STREET DAY".

     WHEREAS, in 1985, through the office of former Lieutenant Governor Mike Runnels, the state legislature created and funded the New Mexico main street program, supporting rural and underserved urban commercial neighborhoods as partners in community economic development, job creation and business retention and expansion; and admitting the five local main street community affiliates in Gallup, Las Vegas, Raton, Silver City and Socorro; and

     WHEREAS, Aztec, Bernalillo, Carlsbad, Clovis, Deming, Taos and Tucumcari were in the second round in 1986, and Roswell and Ruidoso were in the third round in 1987; and

     WHEREAS, over the past twenty-five years, thirty-three New Mexico communities have been officially affiliated as local main street projects with the New Mexico main street state coordinating program; and

     WHEREAS, through capital outlay funding from the state legislature, public sector improvements in downtown streetscapes, public parks, farmers' markets, public markets, roadways, pedestrian safety and public buildings have resulted in the leveraging of more than two hundred twenty-three million one hundred seven thousand nine hundred fifty-nine dollars ($223,107,959) in private sector reinvestment in downtown areas; and

     WHEREAS, through main street capital outlay funds, New Mexico smartmoney, new market tax credits and other financing tools provided through the New Mexico legislature, New Mexico main street communities have rehabilitated downtown historic railroad depots, libraries, hotels, museums and neighborhoods, completing seven hundred seven public projects, two hundred ninety-seven joint public/private projects, four hundred sixty-nine business expansions and two thousand four hundred eighty-two business rehabilitations; and

     WHEREAS, over its twenty-five-year life, the New Mexico main street program has created nine thousand two hundred forty-eight jobs and two thousand seven hundred fifty-seven new downtown businesses through its affiliated communities; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico main street program and its staff have provided specialized resources and technical services to more than seventeen communities and tribal nations in their revitalization efforts; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislature expanded the New Mexico main street program in 2007 to develop place-based economic development of the state's arts and cultural assets through an innovative statewide partnership of state agencies and nonprofit organizations known as the New Mexico arts and cultural district program, with six communities presently participating, including downtown Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Los Alamos, Raton, Silver City and Taos; and

     WHEREAS, the house of representatives wishes to affirm the value of the New Mexico main street program in helping New Mexico's communities to restore economic vibrancy and vitality to their historic commercial neighborhood centers;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the governor be requested to declare August 14, 2010 "New Mexico Main Street Day" and that the main street communities of New Mexico be congratulated for their excellent, results-oriented community economic development work through the main street four-point approach, and that the economic development department be urged to continue appropriate support to each existing main street community and set up additional funding streams for new local main street communities and arts and cultural districts; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the economic development department, the cultural affairs department, the national main street center of the national trust for historic preservation, the department of transportation, the tourism department, the United States department of housing and urban development, the United States economic development administration, the United States department of agriculture's rural and economic development program and the McCune charitable foundation.

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