Seymour Main Street Wraps Up One Year, Ready for the Next.

Authored by Lori McDonald / Published January 2023
The Tribune

The board of directors of Seymour Main Street talked about this past year and offered a peek at what's to come this year during the nonprofit organization's annual meeting.

The mission of the organization, incorporated in 1999, is to plan, promote and preserve historic downtown Seymour.

During Thursday's meeting at Seymour City Hall, Executive Director Bri Roll said the primary words were "refresh" and "refocus" in 2022.

"Seymour Main Street had already developed a strong group of volunteers leading efforts to attract local residents and visitors to the downtown area and to support downtown businesses and organizations," she said. "However, those efforts needed to realign with a focused goal to make measurable effective economic transformation happen in downtown Seymour."

The organization successfully contracted with consultants from Viridis Group and Context Design in 2022, Roll said.

"We developed a streetscape master plan, which will guide our organization to take action steps toward implementing a cohesive foundational plan for our downtown," she said. "This plan includes identifying standard amenities so the downtown area will be defined through not only beautiful historic architecture but also synchronized site furnishings, like light posts, benches, trash cans and crosswalks."

She said there was a gain of 12 new businesses downtown in 2022, but unfortunately, three businesses closed and two businesses opted to relocate outside of the district.

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