Preserving Red Wing’s Historic Business Districts

A walk through downtown Red Wing is a walk through time. We are fortunate to have well-preserved historic buildings dating back to the mid-1800’s, as well as an array of historic churches all within walking distance of downtown. We work to make spaces habitable for modern businesses, while retaining the charm and legacy of our historic spaces.

As a Main Street America Affiliate™, Downtown Main Street Red Wing is part of a national network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities who share both a commitment to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Our organization follows the Main Street Four Point Approach® – a philosophy, a program, and a proven comprehensive approach to commercial revitalization of historic business districts.

This approach has been implemented in more than 2,000 cities and towns across the nation with the help of statewide revitalization programs and the National Main Street Center at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The success of the Main Street approach is based on its comprehensive nature. By carefully integrating four points into a practical neighborhood business district management strategy, stakeholders in a local Main Street program will produce fundamental changes in a community’s economic base.

  • Organization

    We ensure that local business and property owners, bankers, citizens, public officials, chambers of commerce, and other local economic development organizations are represented in the work that we do. For the long-term stability of our Main Street, and our organization, we must all work together!

  • Promotion

    To create excitement in our commercial districts, we plan and organize street festivals, parades, retail events, and image development campaigns. We work to market an enticing image to shoppers, investors, and visitors. As a result, we can encourage customer traffic in our community.

  • Design

    Our design projects enhance the attractiveness of Red Wing’s historic business districts and communicate our safety and cleanliness to citizens and visitors alike. To project a positive image of downtown, we rehabilitate historic spaces, clean up streets and alleyways, and maintain landscaping and lighting.

  • Business Development

    We analyze current market forces to develop long-term solutions to sharpen the competitiveness of Main Street’s traditional merchants, recruit new businesses, and creatively convert unused space for new uses, which are examples of economic restructuring activities in our community.