PEABODY — The revitalization of downtown Peabody has been a slow, step-by-step process over the years, but if you look around today, you can start to see the fruits of the labor put in by Peabody Main Streets and its president Deanne Healey.
“Progress is slow and it’s started with small changes, but we’re at a tipping point,” Healey said. “Those small things are starting to add up and people are noticing. We’re at a really exciting time right now, people are starting to notice and telling us to keep up the work.”
It’s the work that has already happened downtown and her devotion to the city that has Healey being recognized as Essex Media Group’s 2019 Person of the Year in Peabody.
For 16 years Healey was president and CEO of the Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce before joining Salem Five Bank in 2017 as a Vice President Marketing Manager. It was her role in the Chamber that helped lead to her role at Peabody Main Streets.
“Six years ago, the city commissioned a study with the state to redevelop some contaminated sites in downtown,” Healey said. “I was a part of a group of 10 made up of city employees and people from other organizations that went through the report.”
As Healey and the group started to plan out multiple projects to undertake downtown, word spread and a group of 10 quickly turned into 25. From there they adopted the national economic model Main Streets and formed the volunteer group, Peabody Main Streets. The organization is divided into three focuses: economic vitality, design and promotion.
Healey says she is fortunate to have an employer in Salem Five that sees the value of her community engagement and allows her to volunteer her time with Peabody Main Streets. Some of the group’s most successful work has come out of using the pop-up strategy.
“We’ve realized how to use pop-up activities to determine whether or not if there’s a need for things downtown,” Healey said. “With a pop-up strategy you can tweak things before they become permanent.”
When Healey and the organization heard whispers of the need for a coffee shop downtown, they used two parking spaces on Main Street for a day to open a pop-up coffee stand. Its success helped lead to the opening of Breaking Grounds Cafe.
Currently the same idea has the organization working to bring a Children’s Museum downtown.
“CuriousCity was a pop-up children’s museum downtown for three months earlier this year,” Healey said. “It was so popular it was extended. Right now we’re in the phases of creating something permanent.”
Healey, who lives in Lynnfield with her husband, John, and their two children, hopes this is just the start of transforming downtown Peabody
“It’s certainly not easy work,” Healey said. “Peabody is in a unique position where it’s very centrally located. A lot of people have to travel through here to get to other communities. We look at it as a Gateway to the North Shore. If we can capture those people while they’re driving through and make them want to stop, that’s our goal.”
