Downtown Improvement Project (Bassett, Nebraska)

Visitors to this Sandhills community are reminded of the past when they see Main Street. Historic reproduction ornamental lighting, new infrastructure, landscaping and benches create a very pedestrian-friendly environment. Funding for the project was made possible largely because of the community’s affiliation with the Nebraska Main Street Program, said Mayor Mike Skulavik.The improvements are the latest in a plan to attract an anticipated influx of tourists from the Cowboy Trail which runs adjacent to the north edge of the downtown. Through the cooperation of the city administration and the Bassett Main Street program, the old Bassett Creamery building near the trail has been preserved and now houses public restrooms and showers for the use of hikers and bikers. The trail, built on the abandoned roadbed of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad across northern Nebraska, will be the longest in the United States. In addition to the creamery, a picnic shelter with tables was built next to the trail. Behind the rehabbed Rock County Oil Company building is a park featuring a boardwalk of antique western storefronts which depict Bassett of yesteryear.Because Bassett is already developed as a trade center in the area, visitors are expected to shop for the essentials they’ll need as they venture into more sparsely populated areas of the trail.Skulavik credits the Bassett Main Street program and a lot of volunteer commitment to making the community thriving and attractive.