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Downtown Medford supporters have revived an effort to spark revitalization of the Main Street area but hope the city can come up with better solutions for homeless issues that have plagued business owners and their customers. “We’re having trouble attracting businesses because of issues like homelessness and parking,” said Lindsay Berryman, a former mayor. Berryman said the city is working on solutions to the homeless issue that could be promising, including possibly having homeless people living at Hope Village participate in downtown clean-up efforts. She said she supports city efforts to work with ACCESS, Rogue Retreat and other organizations to create a more wraparound solution that could curb some of the unwanted behavior in downtown. Merchants have dealt with vandalism, defecation, urination and intimidation in recent years that have alarmed businesses and government agencies. During the winter, the Kelly Shelter gave 50 homeless people a place to sleep at night, which resulted in less bad behavior in the downtown. Instead of creating an organization focused mostly on merchants, Berryman said, the Downtown Medford Association wants to involve community members, office building owners, city officials and others to develop plans that will make the downtown a destination. The main goal for the association, which is in the process of creating a board of directors, is economic development in the context of historic preservation, Berryman said. The association would replace SPARC, a previous incarnation that was easy to remember, but the words that made up the acronym were easy to forget, Berryman said. Berryman appeared before the Medford City Council recently and said some of the most valuable land in the city is located in the downtown, which provides a significant tax base. She said many people don’t realize what a significant resource the downtown is and what its potential could be. “We need to turn that thinking around,” she said. “This organization will try to build the economic base in the downtown.” Berryman encouraged the council to find a location for a shelter that would keep homeless people off the streets, providing more security for them and the city. Local businesses also have to deal with frequent requests from the homeless to use their bathrooms. Merchants said they have been confronted with messes in the bathrooms after they leave. “They can’t seem to use the toilet,” she told the council. More public restrooms have been called for previously, but the city has been confronted with vandalism and other issues that make that option a difficult one. Apart from these concerns, Berryman said, the downtown needs more attractions for visitors. Medford doesn’t have the Oregon Shakespeare Festival or the Britt Music & Arts Festival, which attract tourists to Ashland and Jacksonville, Berryman said. She said the downtown needs a bakery and other amenities that would be a draw for locals. Berryman said Travel Medford, one of the partners in the association, is working to create five new festivals for Medford annually to help give the city more of a buzz. While some business owners have scoffed at the idea of another downtown association, or feel burned by previous efforts, the latest incarnation hopes to avoid past mistakes. “My goal is not to be a merchant association,” said Christian Nelson, president of the association, who is one of the owners of Organic Natural Cafe and also owns the building that houses the restaurant on Main Street. He said that previous versions of the association didn’t cast a wide enough net to include other voices in the community. Nelson said a lot has improved in the downtown over the years, including revitalization efforts, but there’s still work to be done to make it vibrant and more of a destination. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected] . Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm .