By Pam Wright
The Advocate-Messenger
Perryville is seeing a small boon of late. Investment in downtown Perryville exceeded $1 million in 2015 — more than quadruple the investment seen in each of the previous five years.
With a number of new businesses and the expansion of other businesses, Perryville is experiencing growth like it hasn’t seen in years.
According to the Performance Dashboard on the website of the Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership, Perryville saw investments of $1.27 million in 2015. That compares to $188,000 in 2014, $177,000 in 2013 and $105,000 in 2012.
“This has been the best year ever for Main Street Perryville,” said Jody Lassiter, president and CEO of the Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership on Wednesday.
According to Vicki Tyler Goode, director of Main Street Perryville, much of the investment comes from Bluegrass Community Bank, which opened a location in Perryville in 2015. Another large investor, S&A Furniture, expanded from a 2,000-square-foot building into a 22,000-square-foot building on U.S. 150.
“It’s absolutely amazing what they have done,” Goode said. “(The owner) Sam told me they thought they might reach a certain expansion by the time they retire but said it has far surpassed their expectations."
Other new investors include The Retreat, United Country Realty, Chaplin River Scents, Poor Knob Produce, Marketplace Gray, Mozybeau Farms Heirloom Seeds — which now occupies the old S&A location — and Wilder Funeral Home, which was purchased by David Walden.
Another indicator that Perryville is moving in a good direction is the now fully-occupied historic Merchant’s Row.
“When we started nine years ago, there wasn’t anyone in any of the buildings on Merchant’s Row,” said Goode. “Now every space is leased."
Goode said the recent boon can be accredited, in part, to a desire by families to move back to Perryville to raise their kids.
“Perryville is just a great place to live,” said Goode. “People want to raise their kids here. We have a great school system tied into the Boyle County School System. People feel safe and they want to be in a place where everyone knows each other and is there for each other. Perryville, with its history, just has a mystical quality that makes it such a great place to live."
Efforts are being made to preserve Perryville's historical Merchant's Row. The city council has been working on a historical preservation ordinance following a Jan. 4 community forum suggested by members of the Kentucky Heritage Council and the Kentucky Department of Transportation.
“We’ve been working towards this for years,” Mayes said on Wednesday during an EDP meeting. “The ordinance will cover buildings owned by the city and Main Street Perryville —all of Merchant’s Row. Anyone else with historical homes can opt in or opt out of the ordinance. So, that was a relief and it took 53 people, but it was a good exchange and I think a lot of things were cleared up.”
During the Jan. 4 meeting, Perryville resident and former Boyle County Judge-Executive Tony Wilder thanked Main Street and the city for the work that has been put into the buildings.
“I want to commend the city and Main Street for whatever you’ve done to help keep awareness alive and to try," he said. "That row of buildings over there is an heirloom for us. You've got to care about it — not everybody does."
In 2014, the Perryville Main Street Program achieved national accreditation from the National Main Street Center for the first time. It is one of 22 Kentucky Main Street programs registered nationally.
The national accreditation process evaluates and recognizes local Main Street programs according to 10 performance standards, including broad-based community support for the commercial district revitalization process from both public and private sectors, a relevant mission statement and comprehensive work plan, paid professional program manager, adequate operating budget and commitment to reporting key statistics.
(This article originally appeared in the Feb. 18, 2016 edition of The Advocate-Messenger.)
