From helping to create recreational trails to providing facade improvement grants to special events designed to keep everyone ÔIn The Mood,' Charles City's Community Revitalization program keeps America's Hometown energized and revitalized.

The overall goal of Community Revitalization, which was established in 1994, is simple, yet ambitious Ð to make America's Hometown the best place around to live, to work and to play. To accomplish this, Community Revitalization draws from Charles City's generous pool of volunteers and follows the four-point approach of its parent Main Street Iowa program: Design; Promotion; Business Improvement; and Outreach. Volunteer committees each focus on one of the four areas and continually brainstorm and take action to help improve the social and economic health of the community.

Community Revitalization has played a big part in helping Charles City's business community remain vibrant. The program has assisted with the openings of four new downtown businesses by offering a rent subsidy program; design assistance has been provided to building owners interested in preserving and restoring historic buildings, with $10,000 to date having been made available in the form of facade improvement grants; and grant monies have been obtained to help put up vintage street lighting on Main Street. As of the year 2000, Community Revitalization incentives have helped encourage the private sector in Charles City to re-invest over $2.1 million into the restoration and rehabilitation of downtown properties.

But all work and no play is dull and boring. Community Revitalization makes sure America's Hometown is neither, by sponsoring an assortment of fun activities and events, all intended to bring the residents of Charles City together and to make full use of what downtown has to offer, from the ÔWinter Wonderland Ball' to block parties to the popular ÔSpook Walk' and ÔLand of the Scarecrows' promotion. Community Revitalization keeps Charles City working hard and playing hard. Making it all work are the citizens of America's Hometown itself. Since its inception, Revitalization has logged more than 12,100 volunteer hours Ð volunteers who want to do what's best for the community because it is their community and they want it to be the best it can be. Then again, what else would you expect from America's Hometown? For more information about Community Revitalization, call at (641) 228-2335.

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