Downtown Middletown offers a glimpse into Middletown’s past as a bustling industrial town on the banks of the Great Miami River. From historic South Main Street with its grand 18th and 19th century homes to Middletown’s Smith Park, downtown offers a great experience for visitors and residents alike. Throughout downtown, you can find dozens of examples of Middletown’s rich heritage, including several public murals depicting Middletown’s impressive industrial past.
Today, downtown is witnessing renewed interest from both residents and businesses. Most notably, the Art Central Foundation has capitalized on investments by such well-known businesses as the Manchester Inn, and Beau Verre/Riordan Stained Glass Studio. This initiative along with the Middletown ArtsCenter has brought several new arts-focused events to the community, including Got Art? and the Main Street Art & Music Festival.
In an effort to capitalize on this momentum, the city has recently undertaken an effort to revitalize downtown with the help of local business and civic leaders through the Heritage Ohio/Main Street program. The Ohio Main Street Program, administered by Heritage Ohio, has been working with communities across the state to revitalize their historic or traditional commercial areas and is based in historic preservation. The Main Street approach was developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to save historic commercial architecture and the fabric of American communities' built environment and has also become an economic development tool for downtown's across Ohio.
If you would like to view a summary of a recent Downtown Assessment Resource Team (D.A.R.T.) visit to Downtown Middletown, please click here.