New Partnership Looks to Promote Historic District

The president of a new partnership between two different Main Street groups hopes that their combined efforts can make Ellicott City's Historic District more attractive.

This June, the Ellicott City Business Association (which works on business issues in the historic distric) and the Ellicott City Restoration Foundation (which focuses on historic preservation and economic revitalization)  formally combined their efforts under the Ellicott City Historic District Partnership.


"It became apparent to people in both organizations that we were both working toward the same goal," said the partnership's interim president, David Andrew Hall, a local attorney who has an office on Main Street.

Hall said the flooding that struck the western part of the historic district during Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 was the impetus for the group.

"That event demonstrated to people that the community as a whole has issues they need to deal with," said Hall.

The partnership's current goal is to apply for the Maryland Main Streets Program, which will allow the Historic District to apply for state and federal grants only accessible to member cities and towns.

Hall said becoming a member of the program will also give Main Street greater recognition.

"It gives us something on our resume as a town to say there's a lot going on here," said Hall.

He said the city was previously in the program in the 1990s, but its membership lapsed when Main Street wasn't able to keep a full-time employee on staff, a requirement to be in the program.

So now the partnership is in the midst of a fundraising program to raise the necessary funds to hire a full-time employee, as well as additional funds to market Main Street.

The employee will serve as a point person for groups who want to do Main Street events, be a social media manager and help market the historic district, according to Hall.

"Our overall goal is to raise $150,000 to $200,000 per year," said Hall.

One of the first moves of the partnership was to promote a survey in local businesses and online to determine how Main Street is used.

Using that survey, the partnership plans to market the things visitors want in the Historic District.

"We have opinions and guesses as to why people come to town, but we want to make decisions based on facts," said Hall.

In addition, Hall hopes the partnership along with the county can begin to incorporate the Patapsco River into the experience of the town.

"That's why the town is here, the river" said Hall, referring to Ellicott City's history as a mill city, powered by the river.

A total of $3 million has been set aside in the county budget for improvements to Ellicott City's Historic District and, according to county officials, part of that will be spent to create greater access to the river.