By Sheila McLaughlin and Erica Solvig
Enquirer staff writers

Cara Enneking has seen the entrepreneurs come and go. But so far, her Perfect Blend Coffee House has been a symbol of stability as the town of Harrison tries to revitalize its downtown.

MAIN STREET SCENE

• Monday story: Will Main Street ever be main attraction?

TRENDS

Click to view a detailed map showing regional trends in downtown makeovers.

Hers is the kind of specialty, home-grown business that area downtowns from Mason to Middletown, from Newport to New Richmond, are trying to attract, keep and help prosper. Tens of millions of dollars are being pumped into the efforts to help Greater Cincinnati's Main Streets keep their hometown feel and identity in an era of suburban sprawl and big-box retailers. It's not just Ohio and Northern Kentucky, but a national trend involving billions of dollars.

Nobody wants to be like everybody else.

"When you go out of our downtown, it is generica," says Collette Thompson, who is coordinating Harrison's project. "You can go anywhere and see the same repetition, the corporate wallpapering. But this is unique. This is what keeps America someplace special."

Over the past decade, Harrison has spent more than $5 million in public and private money, creating a downtown streetscape, filling empty storefronts and adding 162 jobs. Middletown has spent $13 million taking the roof off a failing, mall-style downtown and trying to build up a fine arts district with a theater, artists and a stained-glass company.

Newport used more than $300 million in public and private investment to build a regional entertainment destination on its riverfront and is pushing south with more downtown improvements.

One business at a time

In Harrison, Enneking and business partner Denise Miller saw enough success after opening in 2002 to trade their rented storefront for a mortgage on an 1865 building a couple of doors down on Harrison Avenue.

Business co-owner Cara Enneking (left) talks with customers Dale Wilburn and Bill Lytle at Perfect Blend Coffee House on Harrison Avenue. (Enquirer photo/GLENN HARTONG)

Their coffee shop, with smooth java and blended drinks, pastries and lunchtime fare, is so popular that customers line up outside the front door before the lock is turned at 7 a.m.

Enneking closely watches the changes around her as offices take over storefronts left vacant by specialty retailers who couldn't cut it.

"I see it building back up," she says.

A Main Street group has spent more than a decade working on bringing downtown back to life. Thompson hopes the effort will continue, even as the cash-strapped western Hamilton County city debates dropping $25,000 in redevelopment funding.

The efforts need combined support from businesses, property owners, governments and volunteers. Some cities, such as Loveland, have been at it for years and are now expanding. As growth takes off in Clermont County, Batavia is focusing on its downtown. Others, like Mason, Greater Cincinnati's fastest-growing city, and Middletown, an old steel mill town, have tried before and now are trying again.

Those involved say it's about more than saving a community's centerpiece and buildings. Creating businesses, jobs and tax dollars are vital pieces of the equation.

A trend nationwide

Attempts to reclaim and preserve America's main streets started in the 1980s, as many communities realized that their core districts were no longer viable parts of town.

Now, communities across Ohio are competing for state funds to pump life back into their downtowns, says Lisa Patt-McDaniel, chief of the Ohio Department of Development's housing and community partnerships office. Last year, cities obtained $2.8 million from Ohio's downtown revitalization grant program.

Kentucky's Main Street program doesn't provide grants because of state budget cuts, says state coordinator Roger Stapleton. But officials hope they will be restored so the 110 cities that work with the program have funding opportunities.

Experts warn that communities just can't toss money at a project. The most successful downtowns, they say, are the ones that keep working at the design and economic mix.

"You have to keep massaging it," says Linda Fitzgerald, a Loveland-based consultant who works with several local downtown projects.

River, trail are assets

Loveland, where the Little Miami Scenic Trail runs through downtown, has had its share of fits and starts and businesses that have moved in and out. Still, other communities look to it as a success.

Unlike other towns that have to create a niche to reel patrons in, Loveland has a natural drawing card because of proximity to the popular bike trail and river.

Jan Ranard, owner of Pizazz Studio Inc., sets up an autumn display in the window of her shop on West Loveland Avenue in downtown Loveland. (Enquirer photo/GLENN HARTONG)

The three-block historic business district between the Little Miami River and Ohio 48 is home to gift shops, antique stores, restaurants, a tea parlor and a design company along with a smattering of mainstays such as the license bureau and bingo hall. The opening last fall of The Works pizza restaurant in a restored public works building behind city hall was proof to many that things were working. It drew more residents and outsiders to the downtown, which meant more exposure for local shops.

"It made a huge difference when they opened The Works," says Amy Grethel, who has operated Princess Earth on West Loveland Avenue for more than two years. The tiny storefront allows patrons to create their own all-natural body creams, potpourri and other concoctions.

Joe Schickel, a three-year councilman, keeps a picture tacked to the wall of his West Loveland Avenue law office to remind him of the progress that's been made.

The snapshot is of the crumbling red brick building, which Schickel bought in March 1988 and rehabbed when interest in downtown was in its infancy. He now leases out space upstairs and down, and the corner storefront is a restaurant and popular coffee stop.

"There were an awful lot of empty storefronts. This building was completely empty. Water was coming through the roof," Schickel says, noting that a rehabbed building in the same block recently sold for $300,000.

Government money

Aesthetic changes are typically the first step in a revitalization attempt, and one of the largest investments is from local governments. In Harrison, the city spent $1.3 million in 2001 to widen the street through the three-block area, and to rebuild the sidewalks with concrete and red paver stones.

Fort Thomas in Campbell County spent $2 million in the past couple of years to spruce up the heart of town on North Fort Thomas Avenue and to rework roads and bury utilities. The street is lined with staples such as a barbershop, pharmacy, banks and delicatessens, and dotted with ice cream, candy and gift stores, a few restaurants and a wine shop.

A marketing program that encourages people to "shop where you live" debuted in July. City officials are next looking to make improvements to a smaller business district near the armory on South Fort Thomas Avenue.

Fort Thomas doesn't expect to become a destination for out-of-town shoppers, Assistant Administrator Jay Treft says.

"If we could actually capture more of the local discretionary income of our residents instead of it leaking to the outside community, that would make a dramatic difference for our businesses," he says.

The elusive magic

Mason is still searching for its focus, and some think it should capitalize on the railroad that runs through town.

The Warren County city has tried to rejuvenate its core before, but past efforts fizzled. Now, after several years of talking about a new vision, the city has hired a downtown coordinator, sold the Art-Deco-style former municipal building to a developer, and designated several downtown buildings as a preservation district.

Since 2000, the city, with help from state grants, has spent nearly $300,000 on studies, consultants and other services, just laying the foundation for a new downtown.

"Right now, it's a pie in the sky," Mason downtown coordinator Paige Bryan says. "We want to see how we can take our money and get the most for our buck."

Dick Yost, whose family has owned the pharmacy in the heart of downtown since 1945, says it is too soon to tell if early changes have attracted more shoppers. But the effort has definitely raised community awareness that something needs to be done.

"The empty storefronts that we have now are just the change in times," Yost says. "That change is going to be an evolutionary process. It's nothing that's going to change overnight."

Main Street scene

More than 1,700 communities nationwide have participated in a program that offers guidance in revitalizing aging commercial districts through the National Trust for Historic Preservation. From 1980 through 2002, billions have been invested in the effort, but communities received much in return.

Public and private reinvestment in physical improvements: $17 billion

Average reinvestment per community: $9.5 million

Net gain in businesses: 57,470

Net gain in jobs: 231,682

Number of buildings rehabbed: 93,734

New investment generated for each city dollar spent: $40.35

--Source: Main Street Program, National Trust for Historic Preservation

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E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com and esolvig@enquirer.com