After 32 years, Main Street’s Hull to step down

WOOSTER — Sandra Hull has been with Main Street Wooster for as long as there has been a Main Street Wooster.

But after 32 years, Hull announced Thursday that she will retire later this year. The 2019 Main Street Wooster annual meeting in November will be her final event as executive director of the organization.

“Every year, you look at five years” forward, Hull said. “And at my age, five years is a long time.”

Just don’t expect her to disappear.

“I think I can help Main Street. I’m not going anywhere,” she said. Instead, she will pursue other interests within the community, not to mention spend more time with her family.

A news release from the organization noted how Hull developed Main Street into an organization that has guided the revitalization of downtown Wooster. In 1987, 42 percent of downtown storefronts were vacant and upper-level vacancies stood at 65 percent. Today, storefronts are at 95 percent occupancy, while the upper levels “are filled with condos, lofts and offices,” according to the release.

That success, Hull said, took a lot of effort from people and partnerships in both the public and private sectors. “I’ve had so much support” over the years, she said, from board members and city officials and partner organizations that include the Wooster City Schools, Wayne County, Wayne Center for the Arts, the Wayne County Public Library, the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce and the Wayne Economic Development Council.

Hull has worked with six different mayors over her career, beginning with Mayor J. Clyde Breneman. And now, her tenure will close with current Mayor Bob Breneman, Clyde Breneman’s son.

“We knew that this day would come, but we hoped that it wouldn’t,” said City Square Steakhouse owner and 2018 board chair Mike Mariola. “Hull is a remarkable leader. Her passion for downtown Wooster will be hard to match.”

Current board chairman Greg Brunn said a search committee of board and community members will be convened to find Hull’s successor. That search may expand beyond the local community, according to Brunn, the chief operating officer and vice president of insurance operations at Western Reserve Group. “We’ll be looking for someone with the same level of desire and fire Sandra has, as well as the knowledge and skill set.”

Brunn added that he thinks the position will be attractive to potential ap-plicants, as “we’re doing this from a position of strength. We’re well run, financially stable.”

And that’s not something all Main Street organizations can claim. Brunn said he already has seen the importance of the partnerships and support Main Street Wooster has. Programs that lack that “tried to get off the ground and couldn’t, or can’t.”

Hull’s influence extends beyond Wooster, as she often visits and hosts contingents from other cities and helps guide them in establishing their own programs. The Main Street Wooster news release noted, “She has been instrumental in the creation of policies at the state level, such as Special Improvement Districts, Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits, D5I liquor licenses, Downtown Redevelopment Districts and more.”

“Though the Wooster community has seen Sandra’s direct impact on revitalization through the years, they may not be aware of her impact statewide,” said Heritage Ohio executive director Joyce Barrett. “She will continue to be a force of positive change across Ohio.”

In the meantime, Hull said, 2019 will be a busy year with a pledge campaign, a full slate of events and a search for a new director.

For now, she said, “it’s back to business as usual.”

Reporter Tami Mosser can be reached at 330-287-1655 or [email protected].

CREDIT: TAMI MOSSER