Fort Worth\u2019s efforts to revitalize the Historic Northside and Polytechnic Heights neighborhoods will continue with two more years of city funding, officials detailed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two districts are entering their fourth year in Main Street America<\/a>, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation supporting unified revitalization efforts, businesses and beautification aimed to counter years of disinvestment in specified areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, Northside will get slightly more funding from the city than the eastside area, where efforts have lagged, prompting changes in oversight of the Poly Main Street initiative.<\/p>\n Coordinators of the local revitalization efforts updated City Council members on progress during a work session March 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city launched the Main Street effort in 2022 for a three-year pilot, initially giving the two neighborhoods $120,000 for administrative and operational funding as well as $150,000 in grant funding to enact neighborhood reenergizing efforts over the pilot, according to a work session presentation.<\/p>\n In June, the pilot was extended for another two years<\/a>. The city will give Northside \u2014 which encompasses the Historic Stockyards and is adjacent to the future Panther Island development \u2014 an additional $60,000 for administrative funding and $70,000 for implementation funding, Phillip Michael Smart, Fort Worth economic development coordinator, told council members.<\/p>\n Polytechnic Heights\u2019 Poly Main Street initiative \u2014 which covers the Vaughn Street corridor \u2014 will receive a new $60,000 for administrative costs as that district\u2019s managers didn\u2019t spend its initial $150,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey basically just carried that over,\u201d Smart said. \u201cInstead of them losing the $150,000 for the first three years, we feel like it was more of a due process to allow them to have that.\u201d<\/p>\n Last June, after the Poly Main Street pilot saw revitalization efforts stall, council members tapped Texas Wesleyan University \u2014 an anchor of the district \u2014 as the new overseer.<\/p>\n Before that, the efforts were overseen by Southeast Fort Worth Inc.<\/a>, which was undergoing leadership changes at the time. Polytechnic business owners expressed optimism that Texas Wesleyan\u2019s leadership would fuel substantive changes.<\/p>\n Polytechnic Heights is a historic, majority-Hispanic neighborhood<\/a> sharing much of its identity with the adjacent, predominantly Black Stop Six neighborhood<\/a>. About 3 miles from downtown, the neighborhood was once its own as an incorporated city hosting a stop on the Fort Worth Interurban. After decades of divestment, many historic storefronts are shuttered and graffitied.<\/p>\n At the March 3 work session, Dwala Chandler, Texas Wesleyan\u2019s director for service learning and the coordinator for Poly Main Street, said the efforts to bring new life to the area now have moved \u201cfirmly into the implementation phase.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Chandler said they\u2019ve gotten students involved in planning out the neighborhood\u2019s makeover by teaching a \u201ccommunity-based project management\u201d college course, and they are creating a nonprofit to lead fundraising. The Main Street team held a logo design contest to help create the community\u2019s visual identity and are creating bylaws for the efforts.<\/p>\n The university is advancing a proposal for an \u201coutdoor fitness court\u201d that will double as a community hub, as well as helping renovate two commercial buildings in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cPolytechnic Heights is not waiting for transformation. We are actively building the structure, the partnerships and the momentum to sustain it,\u201d Chandler told council members.<\/p>\n The districts can spend the city\u2019s implementation funding in any way that aligns with Main Street America\u2019s four points, explained Dee Lara O\u2019Neal, the coordinator for the Northside improvements.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those include:<\/p>\n O\u2019Neal told the Report that the city\u2019s funding is dispersed through grants, which the districts must individually apply for as they want to spend it.<\/p>\n Over the past three years, Northside Main Street \u2014 led by the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce \u2014 used its $150,000 for event hosting and projects including landscaping, branding and public murals, O\u2019Neal said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Northside team also plans to use the money for street banners that advertise Northside\u2019s identity, as well as communication projects to coordinate and support small businesses in the area.<\/p>\n As Stockyards redevelopment has brought newer hotels and entertainment venues in recent years, Northside has maintained its identity as a Hispanic cultural hub with small, family-owned restaurants, colorful houses and community festivals and art events.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, that nearby development has raised housing costs in the area<\/a>, casting fears of displacement and lost culture among many longtime residents.<\/p>\n O\u2019Neal told council members that the Main Street America pilot refined their vision for Northside to reflect a \u201cshared identity for the corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the Main Street America pilot has led to more than $535,000 raised for Northside\u2019s revitalization, as well as a recently awarded $250,000 grant<\/a> from the North Texas Community Foundation, which will be dispersed over several years.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re working toward is a Northside known for celebrating its vibrant culture, its history of entrepreneurship and small businesses and truly, truly shared stewardship of the community,\u201d O\u2019Neal said.<\/p>\n Over the next two years, city officials will focus on strategically helping both district revitalization efforts become sustainable.\u00a0<\/p>\n New agreements with the districts include set metrics to measure the progress of the Main Street initiatives. These include private funds raised, jobs created and vacant buildings activated, Smart said.<\/p>\n Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org<\/a>or @shawlings601<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n