The Importance of Our Downtown

Historic architecture connects us with our heritage and identifies our community.  Downtown Mount Vernon showcases locally owned businesses and helps serve entrepreneurs. Historically, "Main Streets" were designed for people to have a fun and safe place to shop, dine, and be entertained. Downtowns are also an important tax base to the community because the money that is spent in the downtown generally stays within the community rather than benefiting distant corporations.

How We Began

In the 1940's, Mount Vernon's beautiful and historic downtown was served by the Downtown Merchants Association (DMA).  Members of this group worked hard to plan events to bring people downtown to shop. As the nations economy shifted following WWII, patterns of development and increasing reliance on the automobile resulted in large shopping areas being created at the edges of most communities across the nation. Downtowns were hit hard, with many stores closing and buildings falling into disrepair. The make-up of many central business districts was also changing, with professionals such as accountants, attorneys, doctors, and insurance agents occupying many of the spaces once used for retail or apartments.

Visionary leaders of the Downtown Merchants Association realized that the group needed to evolve to address the complex issues facing Americas downtown's and include a wider range of interests that could have a positive impact. In late 1990, community leaders formed what we are proud to call the Heritage Centre Association (HCA) and began tackling issues such as parking, security, appearance of buildings, traffic flow, marketing, and planning. HCA is governed by an board of directors with committees including; Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Restructuring.