Following are some excerpts from a report written about Albert Lea’s downtown, or central business district (CBD):

&uot;The CBD was planned and constructed decades ago. Although several new structures have been built and extensive interior renovation has been undertaken in many establishments, deterioration and obsolescence are prevalent. Environmentally, it cannot compete with modern shopping centers of coordinated design.&uot;

&uot;In many respects, the CBD is one of the city’s most important industries in terms of tax revenue and employment. If the valuation and activity of the CBD is allowed to stagnate or decline, revenues will also decline, placing increased financial burden elsewhere.&uot;

&uot;Action must be taken NOW. The city and the business community must commit themselves to improving the economic vitality of the CBD now …&uot;

All that seems to be true about Albert Lea’s downtown, doesn’t it?

Now, get this: The report was written in 1974.

The 21-page document, complete with maps and drawings, was prepared by a consulting firm which went on to recommend an action plan for overhauling the central business district. Goals included expanding parking areas, adding more pedestrian-friendly features, beautifying the area and creating a unique image. One specific project was &uot;reconfiguring&uot; William Street with more pedestrian space, landscaping, and parking in the area east of &uot;The Vault.&uot;

Obviously, none of it got done. Now, 28 years later, many of these same ideas are back, and the city &045; thanks in part to prodding from private groups, and in part to taking advantage of the moment &045; made some significant progress the last few years toward getting them done. The Lea Center project could be a centerpiece, and if the city gets all the grants it wants, the William Street project will become reality more than a quarter century after it was supposed to be done. The Vault, owned by the city already, could follow Lea Center, if that parking issue gets cleared up.

This matters because downtown Albert Lea has loads of potential. The people who did the report in 1974 knew that. People today know it. And while there are some naysayers, case studies from other cities show that capitalizing on a historic downtown can be a boon for a city.

A reader dropped off a copy of an article from &uot;Where To Retire&uot; (apparently it’s a magazine; I’m still a few decades away from subscribing). The article was called &uot;Small Towns With Great Main Streets.&uot;

One example was Thomasville, Ga., population 20,000, which restored the historic flavor of its downtown buildings and has become a destination city for southern Georgia and northern Florida. More than 100 buildings have been renovated and 150 new businesses have come downtown. Instead of Thomasville residents going to Tallahassee, Fla. to shop, the article says, people from Tallahassee come to Thomasville.

In Danville, Ky., the downtown started deteriorating after a new mall opened in the 1980s (sound familiar?), but the city formed a group called the &uot;Heart of Danville Main Street Program&uot; and reversed the trend. The buildings got restored and renovated, and they spruced up the streets and sidewalks, and today residents flock downtown.

In Georgetown, Texas, there’s a similar story. There, the restoration of the 1910 copper-domed courthouse was a major piece of the puzzle. Again, sound familiar?

Much of the success was attributed to the National Main Street Center, a project of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which helps cities plan these kinds of downtown turnarounds.

These towns are similar in size to, or smaller than, Albert Lea. They don’t all have the advantage of location like Albert Lea does. If they can do it, there’s no reason it can’t happen here, where most of downtown is already in a historic district and a TIF district to boot.

The downtown efforts now underway have been a great start. But that report from 1974 should be a reminder that you had better not let momentum slip away. We need to remember what that document urged 28 years ago: &uot;Action must be taken NOW.&uot;

Dylan Belden is the Tribune’s managing editor. His column appears Sundays. E-mail him at dylan.belden@albertleatribune.com.