Davis to head Historic Downtown Sikeston

SIKESTON, Mo. -- In some communities, downtown not only is the historic part of the city but also the heartbeat. That is Jason Davis's goal for Sikeston.

Davis took over as the new executive director of Historic Downtown Sikeston on Jan. 1, replacing Lynn Lancaster, who retired at the end of last year.

Born and raised in Sikeston, Davis has been a member of the Historic Downtown Sikeston board since 2013 and is the pastor of Anchor Church, located in Downtown Sikeston.

It was in looking for a home for their church that led Davis to Downtown Sikeston.

"As we were doing just Bible study in our home and praying for how we could help make Sikeston better, we looked for where God was at work in our city and downtown kept coming up," Davis said. "Revitalization had started, the Dream (Initiative) project had started. Things had started to happen downtown, so we as a core group decided we wanted to be involved downtown."

After finding a space on Front Street, Davis decided he wanted to be involved in what was going on Downtown as well. After serving as a pastor in both Perryville and Cape Girardeau, both cities with vibrant downtowns, Davis sees the promise in Sikeston's downtown.

"If you live in Perryville, the Square is the heart of the city. Things are happening. The same with Cape," Davis said. "Then when we came to Sikeston, I was like, 'We can do that in Sikeston.' We can have things downtown. We can make downtown alive. We can have events and just little quirky things that will give a heartbeat to the downtown area."

One of the things Davis wants to do is continue the path that began almost a decade ago that began with Lancaster and the board.

"I don't think we can say enough about the revitalization of downtown that has taken place in the last eight to ten years," Davis said. "Lynn's leadership was amazing and honestly still is. I call him probably a couple times a week to get advice or ask questions."

Davis said he wants to continue to see businesses come downtown to fill up the vacant spots. He has met with the merchants and brainstormed some ideas on what they'd like to see downtown and said they always interested in hearing from people in Sikeston to hear what they'd like to see downtown.

He added there are some new events he would like to start to see how they are received by the community. One is a quarter auction that he is planning for July that will serve as a fundraiser for the Historic Downtown Sikeston revitalization project. Another is parties in the alley ways of Downtown Sikeston.

Davis is also trying to organize a Food Truck Friday event where food trucks will come to Downtown Sikeston one Friday evening a month in the spring, summer and fall when the weather is good.

"Maybe one night we'll have a movie, maybe one night we'll have music, maybe one night we'll have games," Davis said. "We just want to get people downtown on a Friday night just to hang out."

Davis said another goal he has is to begin offering those who are members of downtown benefits for being a part of the downtown organization. Currently they pay to be part of the downtown organization and I want to be able to offer them benefits for that, both individuals and member merchants downtown.

Davis said people can support Downtown Sikeston by being a member of Historic Downtown Sikeston.

"Just like you can be a member at the YMCA, the country club or the chamber, you can be a member of Historic Downtown Sikeston," Davis said. "And with that, will come benefits. Membership helps keep us going, to do these events, to be a part of revitalizing the downtown area, to market getting businesses to come downtown."

To be a member of Historic Downtown Sikeston, contact Davis or visit https://downtownsikeston.org/. Meanwhile, Davis will continue to spearhead efforts to make Downtown Sikeston the heartbeat of the community.

"I just want to continue to draw people and businesses downtown and have them become merchants in the historic district," Davis said.