NATCHEZ &045; A small city’s prominent employer is its downtown, a Mississippi Main Street Association representative said Wednesday.

Speaking to participants at the

2005 Urban Forestry/ Arboriculture Conference at the Natchez Convention Center, Bob Wilson said it makes sense for cities to care for their downtowns and make them attractive to shoppers.

Wilson, director of program services for the state Main Street agency, said downtown &uot;is the heart and soul of your community.&uot;

Following a conference theme of &uot;Trees for Scenic Communities of Mississippi,&uot; Wilson spoke of ways trees can help to beautify historic downtowns and gave Natchez high marks for its efforts at tree planting to date.

&uot;In Natchez, you have a lot of resources,&uot; he said. &uot;How will you use them to shape your future?&uot;

Wilson showed examples of before and after photographs of Mississippi towns, some of which had taken charge of unattractive changes and turned them around.

The Main Street program grew out of the need to take back areas of small towns that had succumbed to 1970s practices of modernizing historic buildings.

&uot;In the 1970s, things got really stark when people started putting aluminum on the fronts of their buildings, all the same color, to make them look like the shopping center where people were going,&uot; Wilson said. Zoning ordinances were not in place, and &uot;for the zeal of picking up sales taxes,&uot; cities accepted urban sprawl.

Showing an example of a heavily commercial street with signage run amok, Wilson said that kind of street would not bring tourists to town. &uot;I would not come for this,&uot; he said.

The next image was of a restored city block, historic buildings as retail outlets, brick sidewalks and trees planted along the walks. &uot;I will come for this,&uot; he said. &uot;I will bring my family and I will spend money.&uot;

Tourists usually give a place one shot, Wilson said. &uot;They won’t come again if the experience is not a good one.

Progress and success in a community requires more than simply restoring, preserving and beautifying, however.

&uot;Tap into the entrepreneurial spirit that already exists in your community. Keep the control local. If we don’t help ourselves, we won’t work.&uot;

Wilson advocates extended hours for businesses looking for tourist trade. He pointed out that 67 percent of retail sales now take place after 5 p.m. and on Sundays.

&uot;In Kosciusko, stores began to stay open until 6 instead of 5 o’clock, and their sales tax collections increased by 10 percent,&uot; he said.