As the community of Fountain Hills struggles to find its identity and move into its next stage of maturity, a major focus has to be on its downtown or “town center.”

The Avenue of the Fountains was originally designed to be the focal point of a huge commercial district stretching from Saguaro Blvd. to Fountain Hills Blvd., bounded by El Lago on the south and Palisades to the north.

That original 1970s vision has been scaled back considerably with several re-zonings and the addition of residential elements in that excessive block.

And now a new movement has begun toward “business vitality” and building a Town Center concept around the rest of what could be considered Fountain Hills’ downtown.

The Times this week continues its series exploring the life stages of a town and where exactly Fountain Hills is headed in the next decade or so.

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When Wooster, Ohio implemented a Main Street program in 1987, its downtown was stuck in a cycle of disinvestment.

Dilapidated historic buildings showed a vacancy rate of 42 percent. Today the storefront vacancy rate is less than 5 percent.

The 24,000-citizen community, similar in size to Fountain Hills, has experienced more than $112.1 million in private and public reinvestment.

The turnaround is attributed to a cadre of volunteers said Sandra Hull, executive director of Main Street Wooster, a downtown revitalization program.

The National Trust and Historic Preservation group created the Main Street model two decades ago in response to decaying downtowns in cities across the country.

Key to the concept is a partnership between public and private sectors, emphasizing that government alone can’t do it, and neither can private business shoulder the entire budget.

The next step is to build on four basic elements: organization, design, promotion and economic restructuring.

Design covers the physical environment of the central business district. Promotion involves creating and implementing a unified and consistent plan to market the downtown area and utilizing a calendar of special events that brings people downtown to shop and enjoy the surroundings.

Organization falls to program implementation, volunteer development, fundraising skills and communicating the four-point approach.

Economic restructuring implements a strategy that will retain existing businesses and recruit new businesses appropriate to the downtown vision and demographics.

Some municipalities become designated Main Street programs while others simply incorporate the concepts.

In Wooster, “we brought back a dying downtown as the center of the community,” said Hull. “Now the downtown offers an alternative to big chain stores.”

Wooster views itself as a “city of balance,” located close enough to larger cities for their amenities and “far enough away to maintain our own identity as a terrific place to live and raise a family.”

Hull described the commercial district as a cityscape, where 137 stores and restaurants, mostly locally-owned businesses, occupy ground level retail space. Many workers and business owners live in second-floor apartments over the stores.

Shoppers, employees and visitors can walk from one favorite spot -- a gazebo, parks, library and courthouse -- without getting in their automobiles.

Wooster celebrates its bicentennial this year. The city was the original home of Rubbermaid products’ manufacturing plant.

Bobby Warren, city editor of Wooster’s newspaper, The Daily Record, said the Main Street program continually markets downtown.

“Because we’re an older city, the main highways no longer run through the center of town. They’re looking for anyway to bring foot and auto traffic downtown,” Warren said.

“It definitely has revitalized and given new life to the downtown.”

He mentioned a popular “Ladies Night Out” this summer that involved about three dozen downtown businesses who offered special services and promotions for women. Kids’ Day, scheduled every summer and geared for families, always draws crowds.

Developers have been renovating the second floors of several downtown structures into luxury loft apartments. Walking tours to see the renovations interested more sightseers than originally anticipated, said Warren.

“Downtown Wooster is the place to be! No big box retailers here, just local folks, local businesses and a wonderful heritage in our beautiful downtown,” said Hull.

“It’s a joy to work with local resources and not depend on Washington or the state,” Hull commented on the public/private partnership supporting the program.

What about FH?

Accomplishments of Main Street Wooster impressed Fountain Hills businessman Cecil Yates.

He and his family lived in Lakewood, Ohio, less than an hour away from Wooster, where he was economic development chairman.

He learned about Main Street concepts when investigating successful business models to improve Lakewood.  They moved to Fountain Hills in 2006 at a time when he was chair-elect of the Chamber of Commerce.

Yates and his wife, Nancy, develop neighborhood shopping centers. Their current project is Avondale Commons at El Mirage and Van Buren Blvd., Avondale. Their last project, Chester Road Square, in Avon, Ohio, was an award-winning retail development.Kate Zanon, assistant to Town Manager Rick Davis, chairs the Town Center committee; Yates serves as co-chair.

Yates views the Main Street model as a “hammer for us carpenters to build on.”

“We’re the ones to make it work …This is a tool to help us survive,” said Yates.

Fountain Hills does not meet state guidelines for official Main Street designation. That’s why those involved chose the “Town Center” theme for Fountain Hills.

Lisa Henderson, Main Street coordinator for Arizona, explained that 1986 legislation changed the focus to rural communities within the state.

In Arizona, 15 communities have Main Street designations: Apache Junction, Buckeye, Casa Grande, Florence, Globe, Lake Havasu City, Lakeside-Pinetop-Lakeside, Nogales, Payson, Prescott, Safford, Sedona, Show Low, Williams and Yuma.

Arizona Main Street oversees about $130,000 annually from the profits of Arizona Lottery to provide services ranging from technical assistance to training workshops.

“The approach to revitalization has been established with the Main Street components,” said Henderson.

“It doesn’t make any difference what you call it. It’s a holistic approach, not a place,” said Henderson, and involves “bigger picture-thinking.”

“Main Street is a wonderful program that can be used by any organization to revive its community,” said Henderson.

The Fountain Hills Town Center Committee unites town, Chamber and businesspeople, all motivated and challenged to improve the commercial district.

A core group of some 20 to 25 people divided into sub-committees to correspond to each Main Street tenet attend weekly meetings at this point.

A Web site has been created, www.fhtowncenter.com, to keep people informed of upcoming activities to involve the public.

New series: Where are we going?
Series, Part 2: Planning is an issue
Series, Part 3: Identity search for finances, too
Series, Part 4: Tourism touted