The St. Cloud Main Street program area encompasses the St. Cloud Downtown Historic District, an area of St. Cloud bounded by Florida Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue and Eighth Street to Thirteenth Street, which was the original downtown center of the city when St. Cloud was founded by Union Civil War veterans in 1909.

The St. Cloud downtown district has a total of 100 historic buildings and these buildings comprise 54% of all buildings in the area. The area is rich is historic homes and business properties dating back to the early 1900’s.

Historic preservation will be facilitated in several ways. St. Cloud Main Street will provide design assistance to merchants and property owners in downtown St. Cloud to help ensure that exterior improvements, from renovation and rehabilitation projects to new construction, are compatible with the overall architectural character of the historic downtown commercial area, which consists of early 20th century buildings in Spanish Colonial and Mission styles. Particular attention will be paid to issues such as facades, signage, and exterior fixtures. Main Street will also ensure that local, state, and national expertise is available to assist property owners with renovation projects. For instance, St. Cloud Main Street will receive in-kind technical support from both Main Street Florida in Tallahassee and the National Main Street Center in Washington, D.C. In addition, a program also exists which seeks to educate St. Cloud property owners about the benefits and importance of preserving historic properties. These activities ensure the development of a streetscape, which is consistent with St. Cloud’s historic downtown and encourage higher standards for the maintenance of historic buildings.

St. Cloud Main Street also has a program to provide improvement grants that will help foster the preservation and restoration of buildings within the historic districts. Rehabilitation work funded by this program is limited to exterior improvements for buildings within the historic districts and must comport with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Rehabilitation of Historic Properties.  

In this manner, the Main Street faade grant program will provide incentives for property owners to make exterior improvements that are compatible with the traditional character and architectural style of the downtown area, instead of being intrusions that undermine its overall historic character.