40th anniversary celebration of Main Street Murfreesboro
Main Street Murfreesboro and City of Murfreesboro release 40th anniversary documentary honoring Downtown Revitalization
Award-winning documentary producer and CityTV Station Manager Michael Nevills produced the documentary in collaboration with Main Street Murfreesboro.
The documentary traces the origins of Main Street Murfreesboro, beginning in 1985, when the State of Tennessee selected Murfreesboro as one of the first groups of cities to incorporate the Main Street program. Through archival photos and heartfelt interviews, the film tells how downtown Murfreesboro was able to revitalize in the 80s and 90s into a vibrant hub of commerce, culture, and community that we enjoy today.
Featured interviews include key figures who played an essential role in launching and sustaining the program over the past four decades: Anne Davis, Dawn Eaton (the first executive director of Main Street Murfreesboro), Bruce Plummer, Bart Walker, Andrea Loughry, Rollie Holden, Mayor Shane McFarland, Greg McKnight, Bill Shacklett, and Sarah Callender (current executive director of Main Street Murfreesboro).
“This documentary is more than a reflection on our past—it’s a celebration of the people, partnerships, and progress that have shaped downtown Murfreesboro over the last 40 years."
Sarah Callender states, "We’re honored to have worked with the City of Murfreesboro to capture the voices and vision of those who laid the foundation for revitalizing our historic downtown. Their passion and commitment inspire our work today as we seek an even more vibrant future.”
“It’s an amazing story about how the downtown area changed and how Main Street Murfreesboro, our city and county governments, and local business owners worked together to make it happen,” said Nevills.” CityTV is honored to be a part of showing how it happened.”
The "special history" documentary features the following:
The history of Main Street Murfreesboro from 1985 to the present, featuring courageous community leaders who rallied together in efforts to beautify and preserve downtown through partnership and financing. These early leaders included Anne Davis, who served as the City of Murfreesboro Assistant Director of Community Development and a Main Street Board Member, 1985-1988; and Bruce Plummer, banker and Main Street Board Member, 1985; the late Mayor Joe Jackson, banker Jack Weatherford and Blake Tidwell were also part of the backbone of revitalization.· Murfreesboro’s initial application to the State of Tennessee Main Street Program included letters of support and the necessary $75,000 fundraising to hire a coordinator to begin the effort, but the pledges needed to be achieved in only two weeks.
Main Street Board members hired Dawn Eaton to serve as the first program coordinator. Eaton, also featured in the documentary, had a love for historic preservation and spearheaded Main Street as executive director from 1985-1995.
The documentary looks at the way Main Street helped downtown evolve and revitalize over the past four decades from renovation projects to community events and business marketing after the national Main Street revitalization movement began through the National Historic Register.
The historic downtown business district is made up of more than 500 locally owned small businesses, like Shacklett Photography, who are the heart of the city. City Council member Bill Shacklett discusses the Historic Downtown Murfreesboro Business Alliance of businesses who found ways to work together.
Downtown communities throughout the nation declined with the emergence of big box retail. The revitalization movement in the 1980s and 90s became a response to lure people back with necessary improvements.
WGNS Radio owner Bart Walker shares his memories of efforts to relocate electrical lines underground to remove an eyesore to promote economic development.
Andrea Loughry, retired owner of Miller-Loughry Insurance, recalls how not everyone was on board with the necessary expense of making improvements to give the Downtown Square a face-lift. “Murfreesboro has always risen to the occasion by working together,” said Loughry.
Mayor Shane McFarland, who owns a business in the downtown, sees downtown as the gem of Murfreesboro in a growing City that is expanding in every direction. “There’s something special about coming downtown,” states McFarland. “It reminds us of where we’ve been and the excitement of what’s coming.”
City of Murfreesboro Development Services Executive Director Greg McKnight, who also serves on the volunteer Main Street Board, emphasizes the vital partnership between the City and Main Street
Downtown is the heartbeat and fabric of the community, where people gather for Friday Night Live concerts, Murfreesboro Saturday Market, the Christmas Tree Lighting, and other events sponsored by Main Street Murfreesboro
Rollie Holden, owner of Holden’s Hardware, has long recognized the importance of Main Street working with city and county governments to create a Sense of Place in the heart of downtown with its beautiful Historic Courthouse, one of five original courthouses in Tennessee, as an attractive place to lure diners, shoppers, concert goers, and arts and entertainment enthusiasts.
Main Street Board Member Gloria Bonner shares how Main Street is instrumental in bringing together different segments of the community from downtown merchants and restauranters to MTSU students
Watch on YouTube!
