Thibodaux state’s 37th Main Street Community

Thibodaux has been named the state’s 37th Main Street Community, Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu announced in Thibodaux on Monday.

Thibodaux Mayor Charles Caillouet said, “It’s a great opportunity for the city because it has been a long time coming.”

Grants and Economic Development Director Bonnie Lafont was one of several city leaders behind organizing a Main Street committee in Thibodaux nearly 10 years ago.

“This all started in 1999 when the mayor was first elected,” she said. “Having a Main Street organization came out of one of the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce committee meetings. Since then, we have worked together to model our program after the state’s Main Street program.”

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph, whose office building is located in downtown Thibodaux, called Thibodaux “Lafourche Parish’s crown jewel.” Randolph hopes that Thibodaux Main Street will take downtown Thibodaux to the next level.

Scott Hutcheson of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism runs the state’s Main Street program. He said the program is a way to grow an area to provide funding for staffing to supervise the marketing efforts, and open the doors for other grants like sidewalk improvements and façade restoration.

“Thibodaux is a perfect place for a Main Street program so that they can take advantage of façade grants and other incentives,” Landrieu said. “Businesses will start to come back downtown and the state of Louisiana, the municipalities and the parishes are completely in sync with building jobs.”

Landrieu said the Main Street Community designation is part of a much larger effort by the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to help people in Louisiana understand how many economic development jobs are related to art, historic preservation and architecture.

As chief executive officer for the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, he said the agency fosters the Main Street Community program.

Since 1984, Landrieu said Louisiana’s Main Street program has provided more than 8,000 small business jobs in designated Main Street Community areas.

“The term that I use is the cultural economy,” Landrieu said. “There is no place in Louisiana that better reflects that than Thibodaux. You can look right here (at Fremin’s Restaurant) and think about what it looked like before and how many jobs became available to restore it.”

Thibodaux Main Street Inc. President Emily Rini, who owns Emily’s Boutique and Something Greek in the downtown area, said the Louisiana Main Street designation came with a grant that allowed beautification efforts to be completed in downtown as well as the hiring of a manager to oversee marketing efforts.

“We have work so hard and we are really excited,” she said. “This designation allows us access to the state’s information on how to successfully run a Main Street organization. They have been where we are and they know the right way of doing things.”

Hutcheson said the grant program gives Thibodaux’s Main Street organization funds over a four-year period, with the first installment being $45,000.

As each year passes, the amount decreases, Hutcheson said. The city’s Main Street organization will still be eligible for façade, civic improvement and public access improvement grants.

“The Main Street designation will continue to spur economic development in the downtown area,” Caillouet said.

Parish President Charlotte Randolph, Thibodaux Mayor Charles Caillouet and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu announce the Main Street designation near the Lafourche Parish Historic Courthouse Monday. * Photo by KYLE CARRIER