Main Street Murfreesboro recognized 2021 award winners and elected new board members at its annual meeting, held Feb. 15 at The Walnut House downtown.
The Main Street Board chose three recipients to receive the Downtown Design Awards; these winners were selected from nominations reviewed and scored by the Main Street Design Committee.
Downtown Design Award Recipients:
Red Bicycle, 13 S. Public Square, owned by Jason Day [pictured above]. Day received the award for the extensive work done on the historic building during 2020–21. Day bought the property as a second location for his local restaurant, renovating the 100-year-old building (formerly housing Bink’s Outfitters).
Brohalla, 23 S. Public Square, owned by Donald Lester. Lester received the award for the renovation of this historical building that allowed his current business, L&L Contractors, to expand its footprint, adding a unique new men’s consignment shop to the downtown square, adjacent to the L&L office.
Rutherford County Historic Courthouse, located at the center of the Public Square. Mayor Bill Ketron received the award on behalf of Rutherford County for the renovations done to the 162-year-old historic courthouse starting in 2020 and completed in 2021. Among the many upgrades to the courthouse interior and exterior, a Rutherford County Historic Courthouse Museum was created with the help of Dr. Carroll Van West, Middle Tennessee State University professor and director of its Center for Historic Preservation, along with Rutherford County Archivist John Lodl.
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The Downtown Business Award was chosen from nominations made to Main Street Murfreesboro and then reviewed and interviewed by the Economic Development committee. The committee chose The Walnut House, 116 N. Walnut St., owned by David Cavallin and Nathan Adam, for the award. The Walnut House was selected in large part for its charity work with local organizations over recent years, having helped to raise more than $300,000 through events in their space since 2019. The Walnut House is a gathering place for events as well as a music recording studio. The owners have made significant investments in their historical building and have brought a large number of guests to the downtown area with events and collaborations with outside groups.
Main Street Murfreesboro created the Doug Young Downtown in 2017 in honor of the leadership and civic service of Doug Young, recognizing those who give back to downtown Murfreesboro through Main Street, government and civic service. Main Street intends to present the honor to someone who has achieved significant respect and success in fulfilling their civic duty and who personifies service towards others, leadership and integrity.
Bill Shacklett, owner of Shacklett’s Photography and a city councilman, received the Doug Young Downtown Leadership Award from Main Street Murfreesboro for his work.
Main Street also elected its 2022 board members at the Feb. 15 meeting. The organization voted in Kirk Garrett, Murfreesboro City President of Volunteer State Bank, as its 2022 board chair. Other Executive Board members approved for 2022 included vice chair Ashley McDonald and treasurer Patrick Cammack.
Shannon Beckman, Michael Busey, LaShan Dixon, Francela Salas, Shawn Wright and Sonya Stephenson were elected to the Main Street Board. Bill Shacklett, having served for 24 years on the Main Street Board, and Susan Grear, who has served 12 years, were thanked for their service as they stepped down from the board.
Main Street 2021 Board Chair Tab Talbott thanked the investors of Murfreesboro’s historic downtown for their support in 2021. Main Street was able to successfully host all of its annual events with record attendance that year, while also creating a new logo and marketing plan for downtown and launching a grant system for 2022 that will go to improvements of downtown buildings.
Main Street Murfreesboro, which celebrated its 37th anniversary, aims to promote the unique character of the courthouse square and the surrounding business district as the cultural, social, professional and retail center of Rutherford County, the hub of community life.
For more information on Main Street Murfreesboro, including the 2022 downtown event schedule and business member information, visit mainstreetmurfreesboro.org.
