The Downtown Issaquah Association is being recognized at the national level for its efforts to keep the Olde Town alive and exciting.

Main Street America named the Downtown Issaquah Association a Main Street America Accredited Community. The Main Street America program is run by the National Main Street Center, Inc., a subsidiary of the nationwide nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Every year, Main Street America looks for downtown groups that do an exceptional job preserving the history of a city and boosting the local economy for small businesses. Main Street America provides these groups with tools and strategies to keep downtowns booming.

The Downtown Issaquah Association, or DIA, is “focused on the vitality of downtown and how to bring people downtown,” DIA President Keith Watts said.

The DIA has been recognized at Main Street America’s state level for the past three years. The Washington State Main Street Program is under the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and managed under contract by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.

Downtown organizations at the state level are eligible for tax credit by donation, explained Karen Donovan, executive director of the DIA.

“Corporations can donate to the DIA and get 75 percent tax credit,” Donovan said.

A variety of cities from the coast to the mountains make the list, though towns must have under 100,000 people to qualify. Currently there are 34 Main Street Communities in Washington, including the Downtown Bellingham Partnership, Port Townsend Main Street Program, Olympia Downtown Association and Wenatchee Downtown Association, to name a few. Thirteen of these organizations (including the DIA) are also nationally accredited.

City groups “have to fulfill the statewide requirements” to apply to the national organization, Donovan said. Main Street America has 10 performance standards that associations must meet to become accredited, such as having “broad-based community support … from both the private and public sectors,” a demonstrated passion for historic preservation and a detailed project plan, according to the National Main Street Center’s website.

The DIA’s application for accreditation was accepted on its first try. Donovan names the “events that bring people downtown,” as a huge part of Issaquah’s success.

During the ArtWalks and Wine Walks, “businesses report a huge uptick,” Donovan said.

“People who have never been here … have a really great time and a positive impression of the community,” Watts said of the Wine Walks, noting that this event has often made first-time Issaquah visitors into people who come back again and again.

Donovan said that large events like the Gas Station Blues Series and Fenders on Front Street, which alone brings in 10,000 people, attract Issaquah locals, Washington day-trippers and out-of-state tourists.

Besides working to promote tourism and subsequently help the downtown small businesses, preserving Issaquah’s rich pioneer history is also high on the DIA’s radar. The DIA works with the Issaquah Historical Society to restore historic buildings and help downtown property owners with applications for restoration grants. Thanks to their efforts, along with the city of Issaquah, private donors and volunteers, the historic Hailstone Feed Club and Shell Gas Station was restored to its 1944 appearance.

The DIA’s historic preservation goal is to “raise awareness” of Issaquah’s past and “enliven the history,” Watts said. One of the events that accomplishes this is the Issaquah History Pub Crawl, which blends alcohol with anecdotes from days of yore on a walk through the past.

In Donovan’s view, what makes Issaquah unique is its “eclectic mix of people … reflected in the buildings, the businesses and the involvement of the community.”

After all, she mused, not many cities have both a salmon hatchery and a historic train depot right in the middle of their downtowns.

“I want to thank the [DIA] Board, the volunteers and the committee members that made it happen,” Donovan said. “Without them, we couldn’t do it.”

Watts noted that Donovan herself is also hugely responsible for the DIA’s accreditation.

“It’s because of her drive and her tenacity that we got there,” he said.

The Main Street America program was founded in 1980 to protect downtowns at a time when shopping centers and strip malls were springing up across the country. According to Main Street America’s website, since its foundation the program has worked with more than 2,000 communities to create 556,000 new jobs and restore 260,000 old buildings.