Havre de Grace Is an Arts & Entertainment District!

The State of Maryland designated Havre de Grace as an Arts & Entertainment District in July 2008. The Arts & Entertainment program is administered by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development through the Maryland State Arts Council. Maryland is the first state in the country to designate Arts and Entertainment areas to use art and cultural resources to revitalize communities. An Arts & Entertainment District has been defined by Americans for the Arts as a well-recognized, labeled, mixed-use area of the city in which a high concentration of arts and cultural facilities serve as the anchor attraction. Our new district encompasses all of the downtown area of the city.

Havre de Grace Main Street administers this program through its Arts & Entertainment Committee. Main Street has been active in the City since 2005 when it was accepted into the Main Street Program by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Main Street exists to promote and enhance the historic character and economic vitality of the downtown business district. In December 2007, the Main Street Board of Directors formed this fifth committee to seek the Arts & Entertainment designation because of the complementary goals of the program with the goals and mission of Havre de Grace Main Street.  To find out more about the Arts & Entertainment District and artist benefits please go to http://www.havredegracearts.org

Havre de Grace, already a popular destination for its small town waterfront atmosphere, has several art galleries, numerous specialty shops and antique stores, a thriving local artists community, a quality group of local eateries, annual arts festivals, and a diverse architectural heritage with historical significance. Main Street’s goals for the Arts & Entertainment District are to encourage arts development while maintaining that small town charm and build the city into a major cultural destination of the Upper Chesapeake region.

Arts & Entertainment Districts offer tax incentives to attract artists and arts and entertainment enterprises.   































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