DGI brings home multiple Main Street Alabama awards; Ford honored as Main Street Hero

Downtown Gadsden Inc. brought home five awards from Main Street Alabama’s 11th annual Awards of Excellence banquet held Aug. 15 in Monroeville.

The banquet recognizes individuals and projects that made significant contributions to their communities.Gadsden honorees were:

• Excellence in Public/Private Partnership: Gadsden’s art community, specifically Mario Gallardo of the Walnut Gallery and Ray Wetzel from the Gadsden Museum of Art, for locating murals and sidewalk pieces throughout the downtown area to enhance its beauty.
• Excellence in Promotion: The Hardin Center’s Cigar Box Guitar Weekend, a three-day event, which saw the center’s director, Tom Banks, bring more than 40 builders from across the country to showcase more than 80 handmade cigar box guitars.
• Excellence in Planning and Public Space: “Up from the Depths,” a kinetic wind sculpture by Harry McDaniel of Asheville, North Carolina, was installed at the corner of Broad and First streets, on property owned by Phillip Williams. Gallardo and Wetzel reached out to artists across the U.S., before selecting McDaniel’s work that honored the nearby Coosa River and the many fishing tournaments held on it.
• Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation: Kevin Edge of Edge Real Estate Group LLC turned a more than 100-year-old Texaco service station at Locust and Third streets, that also housed an automobile repair shop for many years, into his company’s headquarters. The original Texaco star remains above the entrance.

In addition, Gadsden Mayor Craig Ford was honored as a Main Street Hero. That award goes to a business, individual or organization that makes an “outstanding contribution” to a local Main Street program, according to the release.

Ford was selected, according to the release, because of his active support of the downtown district since his election in 2022; his participation in local events and encouragement for others to do the same; his commitment to including the downtown area in all activities; and his efforts to improve Gadsden's overall prosperity.

DGI Director Kay Moore presented the award to Ford at the Aug. 20 City Council meeting. She said the other four awards were chosen by judges from submissions, but she got to choose the Main Street Hero award.

Moore said as downtown goes, so the city goes, and vice versa, and thanked Ford for “all you've done.”

The mayor said, “Coming from Kay, this is a special award,” and thanked her as well for her work with DGI.

“I don't think we realize how valuable Kay Moore is to us in Gadsden and what she's done for economic development, our taxes and everything downtown,” he added. “She's put us on the map. You could hire one person just to run First Friday (monthly street fair hosted by DGI), but she does that and everything else.”

Main Street Alabama is a nonprofit organization that, according to its website, focuses on bringing jobs, dollars and people back to Alabama’s historic communities, prioritizing economic development to revitalize downtown areas and neighborhood commercial districts.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: DGI brings home multiple Main Street Alabama awards; Ford honored as Main Street Hero