78 Photo Essay: Mike Putman
Jasper Main Street Executive Director
Words by Justin Hunter | Images by Ryan McGill
You can take the man out of the theater, but you cannot take the theater out of the man.
Mike Putman, Executive Director of Jasper Main Street, is helping to prepare for Jasper’s next great act. That means creatively rethinking and reimagining the city with a diverse chorus of businesses and individuals, so all of Jasper flourishes.
The retired theater director of the Corner Theater Academy is a key player in revitalization. He joined the Jasper Main Street team in August 2014.
Putman can often be seen walking through the courtyard square of downtown Jasper with his four-legged companion, Miss Tallulah Bankhead-Putman, a three-year-old English cream retriever. She scurries from business to business in search of her favorite doggy treats while Putman strolls beside her, envisioning new ways of modernizing the city she calls home.
“I love a good downtown. Give me asphalt over grass. Give me a stop sign or a red light over an azalea bush any day,” says Putman. “I grew up living in a downtown, and I love being in a downtown because each one is just so different. You can meet all types of people, from the homeless to the rich, and everyone in between in Courtyard Square. And that is what attracted me to the revitalization of Jasper.”
Putman grew up in the Norwood community of Birmingham, so he is fluent in the language of concrete and urbanization. A graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theater, Putman spent 26 years developing students into performers and well-rounded individuals by surrounding himself with a great team.
“Surround yourself with successful people and success will follow you,” Putman says. “I did that in Corner, and I’m doing the same thing here at Jasper Main Street. I’ve surrounded myself with forward-thinking individuals who are helping create a successful downtown. It’s not just me, but the entire team. I like bringing people together to make things happen.”
As a member of Main Street America, Jasper has been implementing the National Main Street Center’s Four-Point Approach program, which emphasizes work in four areas: organization, promotion, design, and economic vitality to create long-term growth and sustainable impact through foundational development. They are making a place everyone can call home.
“When anyone does anything cool, whether in Birmingham or across the state of Alabama, I’ll find a way to emulate it and then ‘Jasperize it,’” Putman explains. “For example, the music that plays in the square. I went to downtown Gadsden, and they had music playing in the streets like it was Disney World. Jasper needs music in the streets. We are continually searching for unique ideas that will work in the city.”
The Jasper Main Street team invites individuals and businesses to be a part of the renaissance happening in the heart of Walker County.
After all, Putman believes that as the curtain opens on the city of Jasper, everyone has a part to play. 78