Secretary Detzner Designates St. Cloud Main Street Florida Main Street Program of the Month

TALLAHASSEE –

Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced today that St. Cloud Main Street has been designated the Florida Main Street Community of the Month for February 2015. Communities are selected based on their developmental achievements and participation in the Florida Main Street Program.  St. Cloud became a Main Street community in 1999, and has since accumulated 584 rehabilitation projects totaling over $13 million, which has to date created 443 new businesses and 186 jobs for the city. The program has also generated 26,549 hours of volunteer support from the community.  The town of St. Cloud emerged during the late 1880s land development projects of Hamilton Disston.  The area is known for being one of the first three Civil War Union veteran settlements in the south.

 “St. Cloud Main Street proudly celebrates the town’s history, through the preservation of their historic buildings and development and enhancement of other projects throughout the downtown,” said Secretary of State Ken Detzner.  “With its successful Florida Main Street program, St. Cloud has proven the value of historic preservation as an economic engine for the entire community.”

 Veteran’s Reflection Garden Project - St. Cloud, Florida

 “Our program’s most recent contribution to the beautification of our historic downtown, is the revitalization of the Veteran’s Reflection Garden,” says Executive Director, Paula Stark. The garden was created to honor the veterans who fought for our freedom and is meant to reflect our town’s history of being “the soldier city.”

 In the early 1900s, veterans of the Civil War sought a location for a new soldier’s colony in Florida (the other Florida location chosen was Lynn Haven).The first veteran arrived at the new settlement on May 9, 1909.  Located between the town of Kissimmee and the St. Johns River with Lake East Tohopekaliga as a water source for fishing and boating, the town provided a suitable colony for both veterans and younger generations. St. Cloud was later incorporated as a city on June 1, 1915.

 For more information about St. Cloud Main Street or the Florida Main Street program visit stcloudmainstreet.org or 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 23,099 jobs, 6,911 new businesses and produced $2.3 billion in reinvestment.