'Main Street' Organizers Meet In Okmulgee, Discuss Revitalization

People who oversee Main Street organizations in a number of Oklahoma towns are in Okmulgee this week, learning about downtown revitalization.

The three-day training conference kicked off Tuesday, and more than 70 Main Street directors are attending the conference.

Right now, the state says about 30 communities are redeveloping their downtown districts - almost half are in northeast Oklahoma.

All across Oklahoma, people who live in historic downtowns like Okmulgee are trying to flip old buildings into loft apartments or office space.

"It's kind of got new life, actually, because people want to live downtown, they want to shop downtown. They don't want to have to drive for everything. It's almost the opposite of sprawl. It's coming back to the center of activity," said Kelli Yadon with the Oklahoma Main Street program.

More than a dozen projects are underway to revitalize downtown Okmulgee; that's one reason why the State of Oklahoma's Main Street program is hosting a conference there.

Margaret Hess with Okmulgee Main Street, said, "It’s incredible to be a host city. When I got up this morning I almost felt like it was Christmas because there are going to be 75 people in town for the next three days that get Main Street, they get what we love about downtowns."

Main Street directors will be learning from Ron Drake, the consultant that wrote the book on "flipping" small downtowns.

Hess she and her husband took on a restoration project of their own.

8/11/2016 Related Story: Husband, Wife, Take Steps To Bring New Life To Old Okmulgee Building

"For years, we said we drove through Okmulgee and we never looked up. Once you started looking up, you discovered these beautiful spaces on the second floors that have been vacant for years, and that's not inclusive to Okmulgee, that's all over small communities throughout the state," she said.

The conference continues Wednesday morning and is open to anyone.