MOULTRIE — One of Downtown Moultrie’s dynamos is winding down after more than six years.

Amy Johnson, 31, is hanging up her hat as Main Street Director for the City of Moultrie to devote more time to her family — namely her 3-year-old daughter, Ally — and her family business, Framing by Craftworks, a downtown business.

Johnson will stay on as director until Spring Fling April 15 and 16, now the premier event of downtown. This is the event’s second year, replacing the long-running Festival on the Square.

“I’m going to be on the other end now,” she said Monday. “It’s not like I’m leaving town. I’m still going to be active in downtown. I want to volunteer, because it’s a passion I have, and I care about this community. I’ve invested a lot time-wise and money-wise, and I want to see us progress as we have in the past. I want to see us do the same in the future. There’s a lot more in store for Downtown Moultrie. There will never be an ending point. It will always be a continuous effort. … We’ve got to keep on going. Everybody needs to rally around who comes into this position.”

In 1998, she left a successful position in the City of Douglas Main Street program to work in her hometown of Moultrie.

“I had the opportunity to come home and do what I loved to do, and I did it,” she said.

Johnson lauded the leadership direction of the city and county governments, particularly with securing the funds for the streetscape project, which transformed downtown and resurrected downtown as the beating heart of Moultrie.

“When that happened, we really started making a change,” she said.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in facade grants have spit-polished downtown while the creation of historic preservation guidelines have laid the foundation of Moultrie’s identity.

When Johnson came to work here, the City of Moultrie only hosted a couple of events: The Christmas Parade and Music Under the Magnolia. Now, the city has 11 events, including the ever-popular Lights! Lights! Festival held each Thanksgiving night to launch the Christmas season, Spring Fling, the car show, community yard sales, the Easter egg hunt and trick-or-treat at downtown businesses at Halloween time.

Downtown’s occupancy rate now hovers around 97 percent. When Johnson came on, there were quite a few spaces standing empty.

Property owners and business owners know what is at stake and have rallied around her and the Main Street effort, Johnson said — not to mention the community support springing through the passage of a penny sales tax that went into restoring the courthouse and building a new county governmental building on a corner of the square.

“That couldn’t have been done without the entire county. I think the county as whole realizes that downtown is the center of our community, and this is where it all began,” she said. “Moultrie and Colquitt County are growing. Gosh, in the next five years, we could double what we’re doing now.”

In Johnson’s time as director, Moultrie has been spotlighted by Georgia Trend business magazine, Georgia Public Television and various landscape magazines for its streetscape design.

She is especially proud of the Destination Moultrie campaign, now three years running, to bring in shoppers from a 100-mile radius. Through Destination Moultrie, “stroll, shop and dine” became Moultrie’s slogan, and shoppers are coming in as far away as Jacksonville, Fla., because of it, she said. Part of that attraction was the numerous antique shops in the downtown area for which Johnson printed up an “antique trail map.”

“Those things have to keep going. Not only do they have to keep going, but we need to make them better,” she said.

Downtown Moultrie Association (DMA) President Ronnie Costin, also chairman of the chamber tourism committee, hates to see Johnson go.

“She does an outstanding job. Personally, I’m really disappointed she’s leaving, but I understand. … She’s promised me she’ll stay active in the DMA,” Costin said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. Thank God, we’ve got two months.”

Mayor Bill McIntosh’s remarks were equally glowing.

“Amy has been a true workhorse for the downtown. All you have to do is see the improvements that have taken place. She has really made Main Street come alive, and we appreciate her building on the heritage of Main Street, and her legacy will certainly be undeniable. We wish her well and appreciate what she did. We can only go on to bigger and better things building on things she’s accomplished since she’s been Main Street director. We certainly will miss her,” he said.