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player ready...Now might be a good time for Batavia residents to buy a new photo album because, according to Lisa Bennett, in a few years they might wish they had taken pictures to see how downtown looked in 1998.
On Monday, Bennett, 40, becomes downtown manager responsible for coordinating the city’s participation in the Illinois Main Street program. The city learned in March it had been chosen for the 8-year-old state project that helps revitalize downtowns.
“This is not a quick-fix program designed to throw a lot of money and turn out some big construction project in six months, saying we have a great downtown,” Bennett said.
“It’s a comprehensive program,” she added. “It means really studying strengths and weaknesses, taking the time do the homework and then pulling together the volunteer efforts and city dollars to do that.”
Bennett comes to Batavia from St. Charles, where for three years she was an administrative assistant for its similar venture.
“It’s like watching your children grow. You have to pull out the picture album and see the difference,” Bennett said. “My advice to Batavia residents is to keep that picture album on the shelf so they will be able to see where the Main Street program has brought them.”
“I love (the Main Street program) from a professional point of view because you are working with a variety of people and there is an incredible amount of skills that a small community can bring to the table: its architects, lawyers, insurance agents, store owners, city public workers,” she said.