Leeds has been chosen to be a part of Main Alabama Street. There will be a citywide celebration for the designation on Tuesday, June 21 and 5 p.m.

“Applying for Main Street Alabama designation takes time, dedication and commitment form several people in the community,” said Mary Helmer Wirth, Main Street Alabama President and State Coordinator.

Main Street Alabama is a private non-profit and state coordinating program of the Main Street America. This is a four point plan that spans over 40-years and includes strategies to improve organization, design, promotion and economic vitality.

“Setting achievable goals using community input and market data is critical to the revitalization of the district, but it’s also equally crucial to bring stakeholders to the table to work towards a common goal,” said Wirth.

According to a press release from Main Street Alabama, Leeds expressed in their application: “with the help of Main Street Alabama, we hope to truly flesh out the strong bones that already exist in our historic, charming downtown so that we can bring in jobs, increase foot traffic, and capitalize on the community involvement that already exists. We also hope to achieve a facelift of our historic business district, including design details, branding, streamlining and beautifying the look of our downtown area, while maintaining the small-town charm.”

Tiffiany Ward and Kristy Biddle, residents of Leeds, decided to begin the process of applying the city to Main Street Alabama.

Biddle is most looking forward to bringing new business into downtown Leeds and supplying more places for families to come together and enjoy time with each other at restaurants, breweries and other businesses.

After visiting downtown, she realized there just wasn’t much more to offer other than a few shops and that sent her thinking about the possibilities Leeds truly has.

“The bones are here for just a complete facelift or makeover for jobs and businesses to come in,” said Biddle.

Biddle said what sets Leeds apart from other cities is how it’s like a “modern day Mayberry.” As a former educator and a mom, she said her heart is really in Leeds for the next generation to enjoy. She was drawn to downtown because of how old-school it feels, but she feels as if it could do with some fine-tuning.

As a whole, to her, it feels like Leeds has a lot to offer but improving downtown is the missing link to draw people in and get them to stay.

“With our family, we always say leave it better than you found it,” said Biddle.