Killeen City Council marked the city's acceptance into the Texas Main Street program during its Nov. 18 meeting, a designation staff said recognizes years of downtown revitalization and preservation work.

"After nearly two decades of groundwork by staff, leadership and community stakeholders, this designation affirms our long-term investment," said Kate Kizida, who presented the city's Main Street background and next steps. Kizida said Killeen met program requirements including new staffing, enforcement of preservation ordinances, a vacant building registry, and a downtown advisory board.

Kizida also highlighted recent downtown investment: staff reported roughly $15,000,000 in private investment in 2023'24 tied to streetscaping grants and other incentives, more than 1,000 volunteer hours and roughly $85,000 in sponsorships. She said Killeen will return an agreement to council formalizing the city's commitment to the Main Street standards and will convert an advisory committee into a formal Main Street board.

Council members praised the staff and volunteers. Council member Segarra said the designation validated years of work; Council member Solomon credited local residents and merchants.

In the same presentation Kizida accepted the Texas Downtown President's Award on behalf of Southern Roots Brewing Company and the restored Hacks Western Wear building. City materials say Southern Roots invested more than $1,200,000 to rehabilitate the building and added 22 jobs; GeoFence data presented by staff showed the brewery now accounts for 10% of all visitors to downtown Killeen, a figure staff cited as evidence of the project's catalytic effect.

Kizida said program onboarding has already started and that the city expects annual state-level reviews to confirm continued compliance with Main Street standards. City leaders said they will return to council with a formal agreement and additional onboarding actions.

The presentation concluded with council and staff commitments to continue marketing downtown to residents across Killeen and to support ongoing preservation and event programming.