About Us
Center City of Amarillo, Inc., began in 1991, when a group of concerned citizens joined together to preserve and revitalize Amarillo’s historic downtown area. Center City is a nonprofit organization and is recognized as a Texas and National Main Street City.
Center City is governed by a volunteer board of directors. Our headquarters is at 1000 S. Polk St. in the historic Bivins Building.
Center City of Amarillo, Inc. envisions the historic preservation and revitalization of Downtown Amarillo, by focusing community, social, aesthetic, recreational and economic interests in a historic core area.
Center City sponsors events to bring people downtown including High Noon on the Square in June and July, Jazztober and the Electric Light Parade in December.
Center City’s mission is to make downtown a better place to live, work, play, learn and worship. Programs include façade grants to improve the appearance of downtown buildings, historic tours to encourage historic preservation and partnerships to make downtown thrive.
Center City of Amarillo Inc. Board of Directors 2019-2020
Officers
President Cal Brannon, Atmos Energy
President-Elect Ed Dowdy, American Land Title
Secretary Matt Mathias, FirstBank Southwest
Treasurer Erica Radach, Herring Bank
Past President Ben Whittenburg, Allison Davis, Brown & Fortunato, P.C.
Staff
Executive Director Beth Duke
Special Events Coordinator & Administrative Assistant Chanette McKibben
A National Main Street City
· Center City is a nationally recognized member of both the Texas and national Main Street programs.
· In 2011, Center City received an award for meeting or exceeding the National Criteria for Main Street Recognition for 10-plus years .
· The Texas Main Street program is under the direction of the Texas Historical Commission.
· The National Main Street program is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
· Main Street believes in the Four-Point Approach to help downtowns thrive:
1. Organization – a strong organization with community partnerships ensuring the future sustainability of downtown.
2. Promotion – an ongoing program of special events and projects that bring more people and positive attention to downtown.
3. Design – a vision for downtown improvement that includes preserving historic buildings and planning changes that make downtown welcoming to visitors and workers alike.
4. Economic Restructuring – a dedicated development program to create a healthy blend of downtown businesses, residences, retail establishments, entertainment venues, churches and schools.
