Design assistance provides property owners and tenants with no-cost, professional recommendatins on how to improve the exterior of their properties. It provides an excellent way to strengthen and enhance the appearance and and functioning of downtown Watonga. Design builds on the past and looks to the future.

The Importance of Design The Main Street approach to design is quite simple; to enhance the visual quality of the downtown. Attention must be paid to not only storefronts, but all elements of the downtown environment, including signs, window displays, and public improvements. Certainly quality design improvements are one of the most visual aspects of the Main Street program. Owners restore their buildings for variouis reasons; however, potential financial gain is often the driving force behind building restoration. Financial gain can be seen as: Protecting an investment Increasing the value of an investment Attracting more business

Watonga Main Street encourages quality design improvements. The scope of work completed is dtermined by the owner and his/her financial budget, time schedule and the building's physical condition. It is the goal of Main Street to assist property owners in determining the scope of work to be completed in a manner that is both architecturally sound and economically feasible.

Design Assistance Design Assistance is a no-cost assistance program for property owners and tenants sponsored by Watonga Main Street. It is a program to aid property owners and tenants who wish to consider improvements to the exterior of their historic buildings. Each building in downtown Watonga is unique and because of that special architectural character, requires individual attention. The Watonga Main Street Design Committee will provide color suggestions for building trim, awnings and signage incuding a color sketch of the building. For more in-depth assstance, Todd Scott, the preservation architect with the Okahoma State Main Street Program, is available. Scott is well versed in rehabilitation of older structures and federal investment tax credits. Both the service of the local design committee and the architect are free of charge to property and business owners in Watonga's historic district. Incentive funds are obtained by special fund raisers through the Watonga Main Street Program.