Fairhope Mayor offers pointers to downtown Demopolis group

Demopolis is not going to transform its downtown overnight, but the city is on the right track, according to the mayor of a thriving sister Alabama city.

“It took a lot of time for us to get where we are,” Fairhope Mayor Timothy Kant told a group of downtown merchants at Rooster Hall Thursday evening. “We’ve been doing this for 30 years. You’ve got to be persistent, stay focused.”

Kant offered several pointers that helped transform Fairhope from a struggling, unattractive community – he showed slides of downtown Fairhope from the early 1970s – to the vibrant tourist destination it is today. “We started attracting retirees, and that’s the easiest way to bring wealth into a community,” he said. “And retirees don’t tax your resources.”

The Mayor also said it is important to keep municipal and government facilities, including the post office, downtown, and recommended courting higher education. “I’ve never known a community with strong ties to eduction that was going backward,” he said.

Finally, Kant said the formula for revitalizing a community is simple. “Find a community you want to be like and copy them,” he stated. “It’s not rocket science.”

Kant said volunteerism is critical to a community’s success. “The more volunteers you have, the more community pride you have.”

The group also heard from recently-appointed Director of Alabama MainStreet, Mary Helmer. She said it is important for a community to “find it’s uniqueness…find what’s special about you” and capitalize on those attributes.