Ten Years on Main Street: Downtown Wetumpka’s Transformation

A decade of small wins, shared vision and a transformed downtown.

By Andrew Stieb

Photo Credit: Discover Wetumpka

Ten years ago, downtown Wetumpka was a very different place.

There were businesses that believed in it. There were city leaders who saw its potential. There was history, character and a beautiful setting along the Coosa River. What was missing was a plan that could bring those pieces together.

Mayor Jerry Willis remembers the challenge simply: “We had no plan for development.”

His solution began with an idea that Wetumpka needed a Main Street program.

“It’s all about selling your assets,” Willis said. “Individually, I don’t think you can truly share how great you are and the great things that you have in place. I think it took an organization like Main Street to move that forward.”

That idea would eventually help reshape downtown Wetumpka. But first, the city had to figure out how to make it happen.

Building a Shared Vision

Economic Development Director Lynn Weldon remembers Mayor Willis approaching her and then-city engineer David Robison with a straightforward directive: “I want to do this. I want to be a Main Street community. Our downtown needs this.”

They printed the application and started working.

“We got about halfway through that first page, looked at each other and said, ‘We aren’t ready for this. We’re not there yet,’” Weldon recalled.

When they told Willis, his response was equally straightforward: “OK, you’ve got a year. Get us ready.”

So they did.

Wetumpka became a Main Street Alabama Network City. Local leaders attended programs and worked alongside state director Mary Helmer Wirth to learn the process. A year later, the application was complete. Weldon, Robison and downtown business owner Johnny Oates made the presentation, and Wetumpka was accepted.

Designation, however, was only the beginning.

Oates, owner of River Perk Coffee House, remembers a downtown where a handful of dedicated businesses were operating, but there was little activity and no organization solely focused on bringing them together.

“There was a lot of potential,” he said, “but we needed a plan and a way to bring everyone together around a shared vision.”

Small Wins That Built Momentum

When Jenny Stubbs became Main Street Wetumpka’s first executive director, one of the organization’s anticipated priorities was a major streetscape project. When that project was delayed, Stubbs realized Main Street couldn’t afford to wait for something big to happen.

The organization shifted its attention toward projects it could accomplish, “even if that meant one small space at a time.”

One of the first was the Tulotoma Snail Trail. Main Street entered the idea into a National Main Street Center grant competition and won. The grant itself was only about $1,000, but Stubbs said the community involvement it generated was priceless.

That approach became a blueprint: improve one space, demonstrate what was possible and give people a reason to participate.

“The resulting synergy became the hallmark of our Main Street community,” Stubbs said.

Weldon remembers the same lesson: “Start slow. Focus on small wins.”

“A flowerpot or small mural might not sound transformational. But when people see something happen,” Weldon said, “they begin talking about it. They get involved. Volunteers emerge. Small wins become medium-sized wins, and eventually a community is ready to tackle much larger projects.”

Relationships That Carried Wetumpka Through

Those relationships would prove especially important because Wetumpka’s first decade as a Main Street community would be anything but easy.

A devastating EF2 tornado struck in 2019. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. Later, a national spotlight arrived when Wetumpka was selected for the first season of HGTV’s Home Town Takeover.

Through each chapter, the partnerships built during those early years endured. Stubbs believes that was Main Street’s greatest accomplishment.

“It was always more about the cultivated community through relationship-building than it was the actual, physical spaces,” she said. “A vibrant, successful downtown ended up being the after-effect of these shared experiences.”

A Downtown That Became a Destination

Over the second half of Main Street Wetumpka’s first decade, Executive Director Haley N. Greene inherited that foundation and began building on it. Her goal was to bring fresh ideas while strengthening the historic district, supporting local businesses and creating meaningful experiences for residents and visitors.

During her five years as executive director, Greene has watched downtown grow into a destination. New streetscapes and infrastructure improvements arrived alongside beautification projects, public art, events and new businesses.

Projects including the Rumbling Water Mosaic Steps, restoration of the historic Coca-Cola mural, the Greetings from Wetumpka mural and the Fall Line Overlook are among the accomplishments she is most proud of.

Greene is quick to credit that progress to the partnerships behind it, including city leaders, volunteers, business and property owners and the momentum created by HGTV’s Home Town Takeover.

Weldon remembers occupancy at roughly 25% in the early years. Today, she estimates it nearly 96%.

“It has gone from being a ghost town in the afternoons, at 5 o’clock and on weekends, to a thriving place where you can’t find a parking space,” she said. “There’s hustle. People are walking around. It has become a meeting place.”

Oates has watched another transformation take place alongside the economic one: businesses that once largely operated independently now see themselves as part of something bigger.

“Downtown is like a village,” Oates said. “When one business succeeds, everyone benefits.”

Greene sees evidence of that success every day. It is there when shops are filled with customers, restaurants have waitlists and families spend time in public spaces that once sat underutilized.

“A successful downtown is more than just buildings and businesses,” Greene said. “It becomes an extension of people’s homes, a place where they gather, make memories and feel a sense of pride and belonging.”

Remembering Where It Began

Perhaps appreciating what has happened requires remembering where the story began.

Stubbs does.

When she and her husband opened a gourmet popsicle shop downtown in 2015, she remembers being afraid to close the store at night. They were one of only three businesses open, and downtown was dark.

Today, she sees accessible sidewalks, improved streets, storefronts, shops, restaurants, public art, trees and lampposts.

“To remember that experience and see the vibrancy and beauty of downtown Wetumpka today is one of the greatest gifts I’ll ever receive,” Stubbs said.

Looking Toward the Next Decade

There is still work ahead.

Willis believes one of the greatest responsibilities of the next decade will be maintaining what has been created and continuing to improve it. Weldon is already thinking about how the downtown experience can extend beyond its traditional boundaries.

Greene sees the next decade as an opportunity to keep growing without losing what made downtown’s resurgence possible.

“As we look ahead, I am most excited about continuing to listen to our community, embrace fresh and creative ideas, and find ways to grow while staying true to what makes Wetumpka special,” Greene said.

But 10 years after Wetumpka began its Main Street journey, perhaps its greatest lesson is found not in any one mural, streetscape, business or project.

It is found in what happened when a community decided to make a plan and work together.

Willis calls downtown the city’s “heartbeat,” the place that moves Wetumpka “from mediocrity to success.”

For Stubbs, the lesson is equally simple.

“Nothing is impossible if people are willing to come together for a common goal,” she said. “It can literally transform a community for good.”

Ten years later, downtown Wetumpka is living proof.