By Heather Matthews
Staff Writer

Before Intown Manchester came along, the city's streets were littered with trash and parking meters were covered by weeds.

Cleaning up Manchester is one of Intown's main goals. Last fall, the group planted more than 3,000 flower bulbs through out the city.

A decade ago, Manchester was a different city. Its downtown area was disheveled, in need of repairs and revitalization. Trash lined the streets and weeds grew up around parking meters and street lights. Store fronts stood empty and the Millyard was deteriorated.

“Fifteen years ago it was decrepit and empty,” said Stephanie Lewry, executive director of Intown Manchester. “It was an unfriendly and scary area. There were vacant mills covered with graffiti.”

In 1995, recognizing that Manchester’s Central Business District was in peril, a group of developers, businessmen and city officials met to discuss the findings of a 1993 study, “The Intown Manchester Development Plan,” and come up with a plan that would breathe life back into the Elm Street area.

Taking their cue from other successful cities, the group developed a plan to create a Business Improvement District, monitored and cared for by a partnership between businesses and the city.

In 1996, Intown Manchester was born with the goal of first and foremost keeping Manchester a cleaner and more attractive city, and working with city developers to draw more businesses and people to the downtown area.

In May, Intown will celebrate its 10th anniversary. And although it is too early in the year to know what they will be doing to celebrate, Lewry said the group will continue its upkeep and improvement of Manchester, constantly working towards their goal of making downtown a better place to live, work and play.

When Intown began Lewry said she was just an intern with the organization, finishing her Master’s degree in Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University. But she said she could see the potential in the city and knew that she wanted to help it grow.

“It can be young and vibrant,” she said.

Lewry said when she started she could picture which retailers and restaurants would fit in to what open spaces. But the first director of Intown, Richard Davis, taught her to look at the city in another way.

“He had a great vision,” she said. “He saw great potential in Manchester. He knew what the best attributes were and that the city had qualities that could be capitalized on.”

One day, Lewry said that Davis took her on a walk down Elm Street. Lewry pointed out all the empty storefronts that would need to be filled in order to bring in more interest in the downtown area. But what Davis pointed out, she said, were the stray weeds, piles of cigarette butts and bags of stray trash littering the streets and alley ways. Lewry said the walk helped her notice the small details that keep a city looking its best, and since then she has made sure the main purpose of Intown was to maintain Manchester’s streetscape.

“Our number one goal is to provide maintenance downtown,” she said.

Elm Street and the Millyard have made many strides in 10 years, becoming more and more of a commercial hub every day, with restaurants, clubs and retail shops moving into the area, propelling Manchester into the city Lewry knew it could be.

Intown has a regular maintenance staff of three that sweep the sidewalks, clean up trash and take care of graffiti. Last fall they planted more than 3,000 flower bulbs along the city’s business district.

But, while maintenance is the top goal, said Suzanne Butler, Intown Manchester project specialist, it's not the group's only focus.

Since its inception, Intown has grown to offer a summer concert series, and a noontime performance series, as well as helping support a number of activities including annual events like the Taste of Downtown, and the Cruisin’ Downtown car show.

“We’ve really morphed over the years,” Butler said. “We recognized needs and filled those spaces. It’s amazing to see the difference between what we used to offer, and what we do now. There has been an incredible increase in the amount of services we provide. We have so many programs now.”

Last summer, Butler said, during one day, there was an Intown Manchester Summer Concert Series show, a performance at the library, a concert at the Verizon Wireless Arena and a Fisher Cats Baseball Game.

“There was something for the kids, an adult crowd, and people who like sports,” said Butler. “Now there are so many options to choose from.”

The choices aren’t limited to the entertainment, however. The downtown area has grown to boast “so many small gems that people that don’t know about,” including a bead shop, a quilt shop, hair salons, a wine shop and a flower shop, said Butler.

Lewry said the new businesses and shops and programs are helping Manchester become the city she envisioned ten years ago as an intern for Intown, but there is still a lot of work left to do.

“We’re always working on our goals and creating partnerships that beautify and renew downtown and make it an activity center,” she said. “(Downtown) is becoming a walkable neighborhood. You won’t ever need to get in to your car and you can enjoy the walk to get to your destination.”

For more information, visit Intown Manchester’s Web site at www.intownmanchester.com or call 645-6285.