About Our Organization

Gastonia Downtown Development Corporation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation designed to restore the Downtown as a viable marketplace and the center of community activity. Gastonia Downtown Development Corporation receives no state or federal operating funding. Gastonia Downtown Development Corporation is funded in part by the City of Gastonia and local property and business owners through a Municipal Service District, a self assessed tax district.

Our Vision

The success of Downtown Gastonia will be a vibrant mix of quality shops, professional services, restaurants and entertainment establishments providing a variety of opportunities for a singular cultural experience. Downtown will retain a safe, friendly small-town pedestrian oriented atmosphere for locals and tourists while at the same time engage a positive spirit enhanced by its unique sense of place built upon its rich textile and railroad history and architecturally significant buildings.

The good mix of retail and service businesses and its continued expansion will strengthen the sense of community and quality of life through the cooperative marketing and promotion efforts of our Downtown businesses. These efforts will reward our residents and property owners with increased property values and increased sales tax revenues.

All can be accomplished by active volunteer involvement and a well-funded program focused on the four-point approach: Design, Organization, Promotion and Economic Restructuring. Physical compatibility of design will be accomplished by focusing on the renovation, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of Downtown’s historic buildings, and on any new construction, providing a tangible link to our past while living in the present with an enlightened path to the future benefiting today’s and future generations.