Downtown West Monroe Revitalization Group

Louisiana Main Street Program

A STATE AND NATIONAL NETWORK

Downtown West Monroe is a state and nationally accredited Main Street. The Main Street program provides a roadmap to spur community-driven, comprehensive downtown revitalization and sustainability. The economic development program has its roots in historic preservation. Louisiana Main Street offers various competitive grant incentives for historic building improvements. The Cotton Port Historic District was designated as a Louisiana Main Street district in 2020 by Louisiana Main Street. The first Louisiana community to receive this designation since 2014, West Monroe was also the first city to successfully complete the series of Lagniappe Community benchmarks required to receive this designation.

Letter from Main St Director:

On behalf of the City of West Monroe and all of downtown, I would like to welcome you to the downtown West Monroe! I’m the Main Street Director for the City of West Monroe and I work with numerous organizations, merchants and volunteers to organize projects and activities within the downtown district. There are many organizations that work hand-in-hand to help keep downtown thriving and growing. We have more than doubled the number of businesses in the district and placed numerous vacant buildings back into commerce over the last few years. There’s still much work to be done, so we invite you to join our positive momentum! Feel free to reach out to me by email at alafrance@westmonroe.la.gov if you have any questions related to downtown.

Sincerely,

Adrienne LaFrance-Wells

MAIN STREET DIRECTOR,
CITY OF WEST MONROE

The Antique Alley Merchants Association (AAMA) was founded in 1984 by a group of merchants located in downtown. In an effort to revive downtown shopping, they decided to name the district “Antique Alley” and pool their resources to buy advertising. Their marketing efforts began with billboards along I-20 and quickly grew to include other forms of advertising.

While the district has since grown to include much more than antique shops, their efforts and foresight have established Antique Alley as a tourist destination known across the country. Today, the AAMA pays to advertise downtown and they organize several well-established shopping events for their member merchants such as Champagne Stroll, Holiday Open House, and Downtown After Dark.

The organization has monthly dues which all go to advertising. To join AAMA as a merchant, contact Dawn Perkins, owner of Shoppes on the Alley and Magnolia Alley.

Historic Districts

There are three key districts unique to downtown West Monroe. These districts define the boundaries for what is considered downtown West Monroe. These district designations mean property owners and business owners within the district may be eligible for both federal and state historic building rehabilitation tax credits.

Those districts are as follows:

1. West Monroe National Register District: National Register Historic District designated through the National Parks Service
2. Cotton Port Historic District: local historic district with its own Historic Preservation Commission with the City of West Monroe
3. West Monroe Cultural District: Louisiana state cultural district