Foley’s historic downtown continues to improve with support from the city, business operators and residents. Darrelyn Dunmore, executive director of Foley Main Street, presented an annual report on downtown improvements to the Foley City Council recently. 

She said since Foley Main Street began in 2018, the city spurred private efforts to renovate downtown buildings and bring new businesses to Foley’s historic center.

“Right now, there's $3,267,000 that has been input by the city for investment into the downtown just since Main Street began,” Dunmore said. “We know you did a lot of work before that. In this time period, the private investment is now at $14,687,000.”

She said the public investment led to much more private money being put into improvements.

“That means that for every dollar the city has invested into downtown in the period since Main Street has started, $4.50 of private money has gone into investing it as well,” Dunmore told council members. “There's a good return of your money, a return of your investment into downtown.”

In the last year, Foley Main Street projects included the opening of the Cat Alley extension. The project includes a walkway and public seating area in what had been a fenced area between the main alley and North Alston Street. 

The city also created a downtown Arts and Entertainment District. In the district, patrons can take drinks out of local restaurants and bars while strolling around the district.

In December, downtown city buildings were lit up by strings of LED lights installed along the facades of the structures. The city and Foley Main Street initiated the program with the city buying the lights,which were installed by area business owners.

Also in December, renovations on the historic Foley Bakery building at the corner of North Alston Street and West Laurel Avenue were completed and a new business, the Colt Grill, opened in the 1925 structure.

Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the opening of new downtown businesses, such as the Colt Grill, shows that improvements in the historic district are moving forward.

“Y’all are really getting things done,” he told Dunmore at the council meeting. “There is just so much happening downtown with the opening of various new restaurants and other things. It’s all just really impressive.”

In March, the state Main Street organization will come to Foley to tour the downtown area and hold a training session. 

Dunmore said the city has made considerable progress since the last time state Main Street members came to Foley. She said buildings such as the Colt Grill location are now renovated and open.

“We can really highlight what we've accomplished,” she said. “The last time they were all here, all we had was a boarded up plywood and brick building on the corner of Alston and Laurel. It’s going to be great to show them everything we've accomplished.”

Foley Main Street was created to preserve the city’s rich downtown history and facilitate growth through economic development strategy. The organization is the southernmost city in the Main Street Alabama program, which for the last 40 years has worked with downtown districts.