DANVILLE, IL --Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn concluded the 14th Annual Illinois Main Street Downtown Revitalization conference November 15 and 16 held in Danville, Illinois with the Lieutenant Governor Awards for Excellence in Downtown Revitalization. “These awards recognize the very best work by Illinois towns and cities to promote economic growth, tourism, historic preservation, and civic democracy in their downtown business districts,” Quinn said. “I am proud to salute these members of the Illinois Main Street Program for their efforts, and I know the good example they set will benefit communities throughout the Land of Lincoln.”

Twenty-four awards were presented at the awards ceremony and Batavia MainStreet came home with a record four awards on behalf of their downtown’s efforts. Batavia MainStreet was a state finalist in five categories, including one for Organization, one for Design, two for Economic Restructuring and one for Promotion.

Batavia received their first award in Design in the Interior Rehabilitation category with their entry of Limestone Coffee & Tea’s interior finish out (15 E. Wilson St.). The second award was for Economic Restructuring in the Business Recruitment or Retention category for “Bridging Batavia” campaign, the Wilson Street bridge reconstruction project. The third award was in the Organization category for Batavia MainStreet’s Local Program Work Plan and the fourth award was in Promotion in the Existing Event Partnership for “BatFest.”

Batavia MainStreet sent three representatives to the Danville conference, including Lisa Clark (Batavia City Alderman) Board member; Ashley Dempsey (Batavia Enterprises), Board Member; and Britta McKenna, MainStreet Executive Director. Illinois Main Street communities from throughout the state submit their best projects for the annual awards. A distinguished panel of judges, including economic development specialists, historic preservation architects, downtown professionals and representatives from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity made the award decisions.

The Lieutenant Governor’s Office administers the Illinois Main Street program. It is based on a national model that offers communities help with issues of historic preservation, economic development and downtown improvements. Illinois is one of 40 states that belong to the National Main Street program administered through the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information about the program and upcoming events, visit www.IllinoisMainStreet.org.

The Batavia MainStreet Program is one of 70 not-for-profit, community based organizations in the state of Illinois. The mission of Batavia MainStreet is to enhance the identity of Batavia’s downtown area as the heart of our community. MainStreet members work through the four points: Design, Economic Restructuring, Organization and Promotion to improve the downtown district. MainStreet volunteers believe the revitalization of Downtown Batavia is essential to our community’s sense of pride, place, and heritage for this and future generations. For more information Batavia MainStreet or to volunteer, please contact Britta McKenna at (630) 761-3528, email britta@downtownbatavia.com or visit www.downtownbatavia.com.