CROWLEY MAIN STREET

317 North Parkerson Avenue
Post Office Box 901
Crowley, Louisiana 70527-0901

Office: (337) 788-4123
Fax:  (337) 788-4129
Email: crowleymainst @ cox-internet.com

Rita Johnson, Manager
Email: rita.johnson @ crowley-la.com

In the Main Street district, we have almost everything you could want.  We have the Downtown Cafe', gift shops, shoe store, jewelry stores, art gallery, attorneys' offices, novelty stores, grocery store, banks, drug stores, music store, theatre, post office, employment office, dentist's office, optical lab, radio stations, barber shop, beauty salon and supplies, home health care, computer services, office supply store, finance companies, pawn shop, electric supplies, hardware store, furniture store, clothing stores, insurance agencies, architectural antiques, and many, many more.  If it is not located downtown now, it soon will be.

Take a little time and browse.  Who knows - that little something that you may be looking for may be right here in Downtown Crowley Main Street.  It is home of the International Rice Festival.

Mission Statement

The mission of Main Street Crowley is to recognize, revitalize, and promote the historic, cultural, social, and economic significance of Crowley's Downtown Historic Business District, and to educate the community about the benefits of its preservation through the involvement of the entire community.

Structure and Purpose

Crowley was designated as a Louisiana Main Street Community in July, 1999.  Main Street has a full time project manager, Ms. Providencia "Rita" Johnson, implementing the downtown revitalization program under the direction of Mayor Isabella de la Houssaye and the Crowley Board of Aldermen.

Main Street offers design and technical assistance for building renovations.  The local office has access to state and national networks of data and workshops to improve the downtown community.

Four Point Approach

The four elements that are combined to create a well-balanced program are:

  1. Organization:  building partnerships, leadership and management among diverse groups like merchants, bankers, property owners, business associations and civic groups.
  2. Promotion:  marketing the downtown's unique characteristics to shoppers, investors, new businesses, tourists, and others, and rekindling community excitement and involvement.
  3. Design:  improving the downtown's image by enhancing the physical appearance of buildings, street lights, window displays, parking areas, signs, sidewalks, promotional materials, and all other elements that convey a visual message about what downtown has to offer.
  4. Economic Restructuring:  strengthening the existing economic base of the downtown while diversifying it.  Activities include helping existing downtown businesses expand, recruiting new businesses to provide a balanced mix, converting unused space into productive property and sharpening the competitiveness of downtown merchants.

Main Street Approach Relies on Eight Principles

  1. The Main Street is a comprehensive approach to downtown.
  2. The Main Street program is incremental in nature.
  3. A public - private partnership is needed to make meaningful, long-term downtown revitalization possible.
  4. The Main Street program is implementation oriented.
  5. Main Street is a self-help program.
  6. The Main Street program involves changing attitudes.
  7. The Main Street program relies on quality.
  8. The Main Street program focuses on existing assets.

Main Street Board

Main Street Board Committees

Organization Committee

Promotion Committee

Economic Restructuring / Business Development Committee

Design Committee

Main Street Programs

Facade Grants

The Main Street Program, through the Louisiana Main Street Program, offers facade grants to help improve the appearance of downtown while encouraging good design.

The facade grants are awarded on an annual basis.  These funds are to be given to projects that contribute to the commercial revitalization of the historic central business district.  Properties must be located within the geographically designated Main Street area and must be at least 50 years old.  There are some exceptions.  This is a matching grant.

These grants are financed in part with federal funds from the National Park Service, Department of the Interior through the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, Division of Historic Preservation.

This program received Federal financial assistance for identification and protection of historic properties.  Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, natural origin or handicap in its federally assisted programs.

Tax Abatement

If an owner improves, renovates or adds onto a building, the assessed value goes up and so do the property taxes.  Under the Restoration Tax Abatement Program, the assessed value and the property taxes can be frozen at the pre-improvement level for five years, resulting in substantial tax savings.  In addition, this program can be used in combination with the federal historic preservation tax credit program, resulting in even more substantial savings.

The tax abatement program is available for buildings individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places or buildings that are considered historic components of Register districts.  The state tax abatement program can be used both for commercial structures and owner-occupied private homes.

Tax Credits

A tax credit is a direct, dollar for dollar, reduction in the amount of money a taxpayer must pay in taxes for a given year.  Example:  if a taxpayer owes $7,000 in taxes to the IRS, but has a tax credit of $3,500, he only pays $3,500.  A credit is much better than a deduction which merely reduces a taxpayer's taxable income and may put him in a lower tax bracket.  If a taxpayer earns more credit than he can use in a single year, he can carry the credit forward up to 20 years, and backward 1 year.