Secretary Detzner Designates Main Street Fort Pierce as Florida Main Street Program of the Month

Tallahassee –

Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced today that Main Street Fort Pierce has been designated the December 2015 Florida Main Street Community of the Month. Communities are selected based on their developmental achievements and participation in the Florida Main Street Program. As a 27-year program and the 2011 recipient of National Main Street’s Great American Main Street Award, Fort Pierce has accumulated $217 million in public/private reinvestment, bringing in 142 new businesses and over 656 new jobs to the downtown since its designation.

“Downtown Fort Pierce’s most recent revitalization accomplishment is their state-of-the-art restored city marina,” said Secretary Detzner. “The grand re-opening of the marina took place this past June, 10 years after it was destroyed by two back-to-back hurricanes, Charley and Frances, in 2004. The new marina will fortify downtown Fort Pierce as a boating and waterfront destination and is projected to generate millions of dollars in economic impact.”

Newly restored Fort Pierce Marina (Photo: City of Fort Pierce)

“From the beginning, Main Street Fort Pierce has been hard at work revitalizing the downtown through the Main Street Four Point Approach™,” said Executive Director Doris Tillman. “We were recently awarded a $10,000 grant from Wells Fargo, earmarked for a business recruitment plan. Grant funds will also provide for the research and development of a marketing brochure.”

The city of Fort Pierce was founded in 1901 and named after Benjamin Pierce, the brother of U.S. President Franklin Pierce who established a nearby U.S. Army fort during the second Seminole War. In 1915, Henry Flagler’s railroad brought more people into the area and by the 1920s, Fort Pierce had blossomed into a beautiful Mediterranean style city. After years of progress the city was starting to decline, and by 1988 many historic buildings were demolished and the residential areas were neglected. Fortunately in that same year, Fort Pierce was designated as a Florida Main Street community and the process of restoring the downtown began. Today, Fort Pierce is focused on becoming Florida’s best designed small city, while preserving its historic charm.

For more information about Main Street Fort Pierce or the Florida Main Street program visit MainStreetFortPierce.org, floridamainstreet.com or facebook.com/FloridaMainStreet.

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About Florida Main Street

Florida Main Street is a program administered by the Division of Historical Resources under the Florida Department of State, which currently oversees 45 communities throughout the state. By implementing the National Main Street Center’s Four-Point Approach®, Florida Main Street encourages economic development within the context of historic preservation through the revitalization of Florida’s downtowns – the community’s heart and soul. Since the program’s inception in 1985, the Florida Main Street programs have cumulatively created 24,604 jobs, 7,337 new businesses and produced $2.5 billion in reinvestment.