Community Corner

Newest Sykesville Association Aims at Making Main Street 'An Experience Worth Having'

The new Sykesvile Main Street Association held their kick-off meeting Thursday night in hopes of revitalizing the area.

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church was packed Thursday night as local residents and individuals interested in revitalizing downtown Sykesville gathered for the Sykesville Main Street Association kick-off event.

Steve Moore, CEO of the Washington DC Economic Partnership presented at the event aimed at getting individuals involved in projects to draw business to Main Street.

Moore said the newly created Sykesville Main Street Association should have a goal of “creating Sykesville as an experience.” He said, “it must be an experience worth having” in order for people to come visit.

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“It's time to get groups working and focused,” said Main Street Manager Ivy Wells. “The attendance tonight is a really healthy start.”

“I think this meeting was just what the doctor ordered,” said Stacy Link, a Sykesville resident since 2005. “It was vague enough to evoke thought and creativity. As a whole, the storefronts need to be more welcoming, it needs to be more apparent what's inside, it needs to draw you in.

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“There are so many beautiful buildings but I think they could be fine-tuned. I feel like details are being overlooked,” said Link. 

One project that headlined the meeting was revitalizing the gazebo on Main Street, giving visitors a place to take in the historic buildings Main Street Sykesville has to offer.

“I would like to see the gazebo project started this year,” said Wells. “But again, this is not about what I want, it's a team effort, it's a democracy.”

“The gazebo project is really important,” said Link. “What the town has to offer in its state today is being overlooked because there's nowhere to admire it from. There's no place to take in Main Street and the gazebo is huge for that.”

Scott Beck, owner of E.W. Becks, the popular Main Street restaurant, was in attendance, listening to the ideas for getting more visitors downtown.

“We've been trying to figure out how to make downtown Sykesville a destination and it needs a great effort from the community to make it that way. This was a start, a great start,” said Beck. “This can only help the Town council and the town itself, with more people working towards that goal it should be great. I’m looking forward to see how it transpires.”

“I think a half dozen people will emerge that will have a project that they have always wanted to work on and it's near and dear to them, and they will have a few friends who want to do the same thing,” said Moore after his presentation to the newly formed group. “Ivy needs to give them what they need and get them going.”

Members of the Sykesville Town Council were also in attendance, weighing in on the proposed changes.

“We have a lot of people interested in moving the Main Street forward,” said Leo Keenan, Sykesville Town Council member. “That's been on my mind since I was elected.

“I’m really hoping we can take this energy and use it. I'm hoping these people will talk to their neighbors and friends and get them involved.”

Patch Editor Kym Byrnes contributed to this report. 


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