Middletown accepted as Main Street community

Program will allow for more grant funding for downtown area

In addition to greater access to grants, the program will also help the town revitalize in five key areas, called the Five Points: design, organization, promotion, economic restructuring, and ‘‘clean, safe and green” measures.

‘‘We were really pleased. We were kind of shocked that it happened so quickly,” Miller said. ‘‘I think the program as a whole is very beneficial for our town and any other community in Maryland because it boosts tourism by bringing increased economic vitality to the town.”

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) announced the five new Main Street-designated municipalities Tuesday at an event in the Eastern Shore town of Berlin. In addition to Middletown, they include Annapolis, Berlin, Chestertown and Princess Anne. A total of 10 Maryland communities applied for the designation. This is the first time since 2005 that the program has designated new Main Street communities. The program does not accept applications on a predetermined schedule, instead its leaders make choices about when to accept new municipalities based on considerations such as funding.

‘‘Expansion of the Main Street Program recognizes the ‘smart growth’ value of revitalizing existing communities, building both individual and community wealth, and strengthens the economic potential of Maryland’s traditional main streets and neighborhoods,” O’Malley said Tuesday in a press release.

Miller, the town’s Board of Commissioners and Town Administrator Drew Bowen attended the ceremony.

One required step any new Main Street community must take is the hiring of a Main Street manager, who must be paid $15,000 or more per year. It can start out as a part-time position, but by the end of three years as a Main Street community, the manager should be full-time. Miller says the town is ready to accept the challenges and rewards of being a Main Street-designated community.

‘‘The first thing we have to do is just get ourselves acclimated to the program,” he said. ‘‘We have already done some preparation ahead of time that you have to do. We have set aside $15,000 in our budget to pay a part-time Main Street manager. We now have to go about hiring somebody for the manager position and just doing the start-up.”

He said the town will start advertising the position soon; there are no preferred candidates yet.

Before the five new Main Street communities were announced Tuesday, the program had designated 18 communities in 12 Maryland counties, resulting in the opening of 833 new businesses and the creation of 3,350 new jobs, according to a statement by O’Malley’s deputy press secretary, Christine Hansen.

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development also announced Tuesday that Middletown will receive $12,000 in funding in the form of a Main Street Improvement Program award.