By Michael Hutchins, Herald Democrat
Denison’s downtown revitalization and streetscape improvements were highlighted on a national stage Monday when the city received the Great American Main Street Award for 2025. Denison was one of three cities, alongside Raton, New Mexico and Jefferson, Iowa, that received the recognition this week at the Main Street Now Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
For Denison, this represents a five year effort toward receiving the recognition, but Monday’s award represents the culmination of decades of effort in preserving, restoring and growing the core of the community. Downtown Denison made it to the semifinalist stage four years before receiving the honor from Main Street America.
“It feels awesome, and I just hope that our businesses celebrate this, and we capitalize on it,” Denison Main Street Director Donna Dow said. “Hopefully the tourism aspect of it will just explode now, and everybody will be coming to Denison soon.”
The award is designed to celebrate “communities whose successes serve as a model for comprehensive, preservation-based revitalization efforts in their historic downtowns and commercial corridor districts,” Main Street America said on its website.
“Denison, Jefferson, and Raton exemplify how small communities can overcome economic challenges through ingenuity and collective effort,” Main Street America President and CEO Erin Barnes said. “Each program brings a unique perspective, but all three stand out for their resiliency, creative placemaking, and commitment to preservation-based economic development that has transformed their downtowns into vibrant community hubs.”
For Denison, city leaders attributed the success on the national stage in part to the ongoing Designing Downtown Denison program, also known as D3. The multi-year program will see the city invest in new infrastructure for downtown while improving the streetscape to be more pedestrian friendly and creating additional outdoor spaces for businesses and visitors alike.
The city first started its effort toward revitalizing its downtown streetscape about a decade ago. Recently, the city began work on the second phase of the project, which centers on the areas surrounding Heritage Park.
“Designing Downtown Denison was a grass-roots effort, and through open and transparent communication and strong support from our partners, we have worked hard to ensure revitalization goes hand in hand with community and economic support,” Dow said. “We are thrilled to see all our work recognized with this wonderful honor.”
The city began its self-designated Main Street program in 1988 shortly after Union Pacific relocated their headquarters and operations. The city has worked for many years to reinvent itself as a thriving downtown corridor and center of the arts in Texoma. In more recent years, this effort has included a decade-long effort to create a thriving entertainment district in the heart of the community.
“They mentioned that the streetscape being accessible to everyone was very important,” Dow said. “I know that we focus a lot on diversity and … to welcome diversity means to remove barriers, so that is removing barriers to that all citizens can enjoy our downtown.”
While significant attention was placed on the renewed streetscape, former Denison Mayor Janet Gott said credit should also be given to the businesses that call Denison home.
“I think there is no question that the investors that we have seen in downtown have played a major part in this,” she said. “We couldn’t do it on our own. Our investment was for the purpose of generating investors. When the investors saw our commitment to the downtown project, then they were willing to come invest with us.”
“We have an outstanding group of businesses in our beautiful downtown, and we could not do anything without our businesses,” Current Denison Mayor Robert Crawley said. “They are the whole soul of our downtown, and we have had a great time helping coordinate the exterior. It is up to our businesses to help us bring people into downtown.”
With the recognition, Dow said she hopes that Denison will attract more attention from tourists and others who want to visit the city for its burgeoning and thriving downtown.
