Conclusion

Homerville RSVP Conclusion

Long before the delivery of the final plan, Homerville’s invested community members and local leaders embraced the community vision outlined in step one to begin implementing projects to change downtown Homerville for the better. During the first weekend of October 2022, more than 300 local residents came together to clean up downtown as part the annual Hands on Homerville program. Volunteers picked up litter, edged sidewalks, trimmed weeds, and raked leaves and debris from downtown streets and sidewalks. On the grounds of the Homerville Municipal Complex, crews scraped peeling paint, repainted trim, pruned shrubs, cleaned up landscape beds, and worked to improve the look of this public building. The efforts of these regular citizens, half of whom were students, offer a brilliant example of the depth of community spirit alive and well in Homerville.

This plan would not have been possible without an outpouring of support from Homerville community members and the financial support of the J. Donald and Laurelle Lee Family Foundation. With assistance from the foundation, since January of 2021, the City of Homerville, the Homerville Downtown Development Authority, and the city’s Main Street Program have raised over $220,000 dedicated for downtown revitalization.

Incredible progress has been made downtown over this brief period. Across the city, once-neglected properties are undergoing renovation. New businesses are opening in long-shuttered storefronts. Homerville now boasts desirable economic development tools like a re-activated DDA, a fullyfunded façade grant program, and Rural Zone Tax Credits to support downtown revitalization. Above and beyond these financial tools, the dedication of hardworking city staff, the grit and determination of local entrepreneurs and small business owners, and the community spirit evident across this special place are coming together to make the local vision for Homerville a reality. The consensus goal of revitalizing downtown as an attractive, economically vibrant community hub echoes the vision of earlier Homerville boosters, as seen in the anonymous poem (seen on the right of this page) preserved from the city’s “boomtown” years.

Homerville now is moving up, She’s moving with a jump; In proof of this just come to town, And hear the hammer’s thump.

Homerville’s got a building boom, And don’t you soon forget it; You’d better buy some real estate, Or doubtless, you’ll regret it.

From “Homerville Is in the Lead”, Homerville Chronicle, 1895

WITH A LONG-TERM VISION OF WHAT THEIR COMMUNITY CAN ACCOMPLISH WHEN WORKING TOGETHER, HOMERVILLE’S LEADERS OF TODAY ARE COMMITTED TO GROWING IN A WAY THAT CELEBRATES THE COMMUNITY’S PAST, ENHANCES QUALITY OF LIFE, LEAVES A POSITIVE LEGACY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION, AND PRESERVES THE VERY FEATURES THAT MAKE THIS COMMUNITY A SPECIAL PLACE TO CALL HOME.