FARMVILLE – Downtown Farmville wants to hear your ideas for the Main Street District. Your opportunity to weigh in on how you see the future of the downtown district will be at 7:15 pm on Monday, February 25th or 9:30 am on Tuesday, February 26th. The public visioning sessions will be held at the Historic Farmville Train Station located at 510 W. Third Street.

The public forums for the visioning process will allow Farmville residents the opportunity to share their vision for the downtown area. Whether your idea is more retail and restaurants, lodging, entertainment, or other opportunities that will enhance the district, you are invited to attend these sessions.

The area known as Farmville's traditional commercial district is roughly bounded by High, Fourth, North, South, and Elm Streets. It includes the tobacco warehouses and former shoe factory that house part of the Green Front Furniture business. The district's most prominent intersection is Main and Third Streets. It also is home to both local government offices and the Prince Edward County Courthouse.

Downtown revitalization became necessary in post-World War II American towns and cities as suburbanization became more prevalent. As a result, traditional downtown districts became derelict. In 1980, the National Trust for Historic Preservation launched the Main Street program targeting the adaptive re-use of traditional downtown buildings.

Utilizing a comprehensive methodology to pumping new life into traditional districts, the Main Street program is a local self-help program. Committees of business and community leaders partnered with individual citizens address all aspects of downtown revitalization from planning retail promotions and community events to recruiting new businesses to the look and feel of the district.

In Farmville, members of the downtown business district have partnered with representatives from Longwood University, Hampden-Sydney College, civic organizations, both local governments, and interested community leaders. Opportunities for involvement from the community-at-large are available.

A non-profit partner for the Town of Farmville and Prince Edward County governments, the Downtown Farmville organization was announced as a member of the Virginia Main Street network in August, 2011. Its kick off in January, 2012, marked the beginning of a formalized revitalization of the business district following the completion of the downtown streetscape project by the Town of Farmville. For more information on Downtown Farmville or the visioning sessions, please contact Executive Director Helen Person at 434-392-3060 or e-mail her: director@downtownfarmville.com. More information is also available on www.facebook.com/downtownfarmville.