Norwich - It's been nearly five years since Norwich lost its status as a full-fledged member of the Connecticut Main Street Program, which provides economic development consulting, workshops, promotions and awards for member downtowns, but city officials have now found a low-cost way to join the program.

The Norwich Community Development Corp. last year paid the $300 annual fee for nonprofit entities to become a "general member" of the Main Street Program. The affiliation is starting to pay off, officials said.

NCDC officials have attended recent workshops, including one on tax increment financing, and last week learned that its request for Connecticut Main Street Program assistance to evaluate and market the long-vacant Reid & Hughes building has been approved.

John Simone, president and CEO of Connecticut Main Street Center, said the general membership affiliation was established 10 years ago to help smaller cities and downtown districts that could not afford full-fledged membership. Norwich lost its affiliation in August 2010, when the financially strapped Rose City Renaissance, the city's Main Street program folded.

Simone said the Main Street general membership program started with eight participants and now has 55 participants with dues ranging from $300 to $1,000 per year.

General members are eligible for the program's Preservation of Place grants of up to $10,000, discounts to program workshops and can submit nominations to the annual awards program.

Three years ago, Connecticut Main Street Center received funding from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority to launch the "Come Home to Downtown" technical assistance program aimed at redeveloping vacant, small commercial buildings. During the first two years, the program worked on buildings in Waterbury, Torrington, Middletown, Meriden and New Britain.

This year, Connecticut Main Street selected another Meriden project and the Reid & Hughes building on Main Street in Norwich. Simone said the group is looking for a third project and hopes to find one in downtown New London, a full-fledged Main Street member.

Come Home to Downtown focuses on mixed-use development with commercial entities on the ground floor and apartments above. The targeted buildings would have up to 20 apartments, making them expensive to tackle with low profit potential, Simone said.

The Reid & Hughes building fits that description perfectly, NCDC officials said. The former split-level department store has been vacant for two decades. Several attempts to find developers have been unsuccessful.

Come Home to Downtown will send a team of technical experts led by historic preservation specialist architect William W. Crosskey of Crosskey Architects LLC to assess the Reid & Hughes building. Crosskey is familiar with the building, having examined it for the Norwich Heritage Trust, which advocates saving the historic structure.

The group will provide model layouts of possible uses, condition and cost analyses for "a road map for development of the building," the Come Home to Downtown program outline stated.

"Norwich proposed it, because they see it as a central building to that portion of downtown and obviously in need of help," Simone said of Reid & Hughes. "This might be one of the last opportunities to help that building."

The technical assistance group also will conduct an overall downtown economic development audit on planning and zoning regulations, building code barriers to development and parking.

Simone said the report should be ready to present at a public informational meeting in May or June.

NCDC Vice President Jason Vincent said joining the Main Street general membership program was a valuable decision for the city's economic development agency that also oversees the $3.38 million voter-approved downtown revitalization program.

Beyond the Reid & Hughes project, Vincent said the Main Street program has been helpful for its workshops and ability to connect with other small cities facing similar issues and perhaps other developers not familiar with Norwich.

"The big piece of the value of those programs is the networking," Vincent said. "In my mind, part of it is credibility. The Main Street program is recognized nationally as a credible program. It gives developers confidence that the community is working with a credible entity."

c.bessette@theday.com

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