Lauret agreed that, from the Chamber of Commerce's perspective, big-box developments are welcome, but the city needs to protect its smaller businesses, as well.

"We welcome all economic development," Lauret said. "We just want to make sure our downtown doesn't suffer."

Lauret said the key to keeping the downtown area alive is giving people a reason to go there. By encouraging specialty stores and restaurants, she said, the downtown area can serve a different market.

How to best revitalize downtown remains a topic for debate. Some push architectural overhauls, some push better streets and parking, others push tax breaks for business owners. But all involved agree that saving Main Street is important to the city as a whole.

"From a civic perspective, there's a lot of history downtown," Walton said. "A lot of our civic buildings are there, we have our parades down there, our carnival is down there, and we decorate the area at Christmas. Downtown provides the civic center or heart of a city."

Thompson said preserving the downtown area is part of preserving American Fork's rich heritage.

"If you have a city that has grown up with a lot of tradition, as our city has, you should maintain it and build upward on it," he said.

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E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com