The Great Road on Main is both a place and an idea.
As a place, the century-old church has been transformed to a celebration and cultural venue. Abandoned for nearly a decade, stodgy drop ceilings were torn away to reveal soaring peaked Gothic-revival sanctuary roofs and floral stained glass. Designers arrived and sleek spaces in the sunny loft were defined with distressed-wood planning tables, leather chairs were installed in the quiet oak libraries, and there are glimpses of blossoming dogwoods in the courtyards.
Since its transformation almost exactly three years ago, the venue has served people celebrating all stages of life: weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, concerts, fundraisers, a wake, and a square dance.
But in that light-filled, well-heeled 9,200 square-foot space is a larger idea. The non-profit, On Main Street, Inc., the entity that purchased and is marketing the space, intends to make it the hub of the Main Street community.
To do that, On Main Street, Inc. is engaging its neighbors. It’s helping neighboring Literacy Volunteers of the NRV, just across the street in the turreted white castle, throw a Scrabble Tournament in April. They housed the Montgomery Museum’s recent H’arts on Main art event and the art of local artists hangs in their marble tiled halls. The Christiansburg Rescue Squad held a training there and the town hosted one of its monthly Coffees with the Mayor in its swank loft.
The mission of On Main Street, Inc. is “to partner with other organizations and businesses in the revitalization of downtown Christiansburg, Virginia,” says its website and Mike Larkin, the organization’s president, in salt and pepper goatee, black turtleneck and Tom Ford glasses sits at a blonde barn-board worktable backed by a wall of gold-embossed books, globes and bibelots from his world travels. There is a bow and arrow from New Guinea hanging on the raw-brick wall between the tall windows lighting the airy space.
Larkin is a former California motorcycle cop and minister. He talks about the place that is The Great Road and the idea around it while he waits for a phone call from Boston. On Main Street, Inc. are also business consultants and Boston is calling to ask Larkin how they too can become a small-town hub, an engine for community change.
“This idea is reproducible to any town,” he said. “The question is “How do you localize it?” and find the nonprofit, for-profit and civic collaborators?””
The people from Boston – and elsewhere – are calling him because he seems to know the nuts and bolts of accessing historic restoration and community grants and loans, but, maybe as important, the importance of capturing the idea of a place.
On Main Street, Inc. dubbed the church “The Great Road” after the storied Great Wilderness Road thoroughfare that carried Native Americans and Europeans down the Shenandoah Valley and west across the Cumberland Gap. That road is thought to be Rt. 11, Main Street.
The idea is that The Great Road is smack in the middle of Main Street, where, although the business vacancy rate is low, few of those businesses are open on evenings, even fewer on weekends. But weddings, christenings, concerts and wakes, drawing a new throng to Main Street could be the impetus for a more lively economic development.
“You get people downtown and businesses start seeing more businesses. I’m a strong believer that it takes private, non-profit, and civic investment to bring about substantial change to a community. What I’ve found has been a willingness for all three to work together.”
Certainly, Christiansburg has marketable assets, Larkin says, its Appalachian history, music, local art, architecture and the Great Road of Main Street itself. The Town of Christiansburg agrees.
“We envision the future of downtown as an important place to do business and a destination for residents and families for leisure experiences,” Melissa Demmitt, the town’s public relations officer wrote in an email.
But both of them agree on impediments. “Downtown has several strengths, including its history, its large employment sector and its low vacancy rate. We do struggle to find space flexible enough for different types of uses, such as a new restaurant,” Demmitt wrote.
But Larkin is optimistic and he sees success in stronger community connections and investments of time, resources and creativity from the town may be occurring at a crucial time.
“Three years ago, we wondered what it would look like to take a single-use facility with pews bolted to the floor and drop ceilings and facilitate community and bring people to downtown? We established partnering relationships with the Kiwanis for Wilderness Trail Week. With Montgomery Museum for the recent H’arts on Main. Rescue Squad training, Scrabble tournaments, Backpack programs. We’re developing a working relationship with DCI to do joint events,” he said.
At the same time, Christiansburg has established walking streets and farmers’ markets, public art projects downtown and reaching to embrace historic Cambria, goat yoga and murals.
“The town has initiated projects and programs over the past year as a first step in enhancing a sense of place in our downtown,” Demmitt said. “We introduced the façade grant program to help businesses in downtown and Cambria improve their facades and to encourage investment in our historic central business areas. We look forward to continuing all of this momentum this year and are excited about the opportunities for our downtown area in 2019.”
Up and down Main Street, the Great Road, neighbors helping neighbors are making Christiansburg the place to be.
