BERLIN — Plans for decorative crosswalks, hanging flower planters and safer pedestrian access to Main Street and Farmington Avenue got a boost Thursday when Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that the town will be one of 14 communities receiving a Main Street Investment Fund Grant.
The town will get $259,270 for Main Street streetscape improvements that have been in the works for a decade, said Mayor Adam Salina who was on hand at Town Hall for the announcement.
“This is going to go a long way in our downtown revitalization,” Salina said.
The money, administered through the state Department of Housing, was part of a $4.9 million pool designated for Main Street revitalization projects throughout the state.
“These grants will help local governments attract additional jobs so desperately needed in Connecticut,” Malloy said.
The towns of Ansonia, Killingly, Griswold, Cornwall, Colchester, Canton, Canaan, Burlington, Essex, Mansfield, New Canaan, Wesport and Fairfield also received grant money from the same Main Street Investment Fund for similar projects.
“I understand that this is a tool that breaths new life into downtowns,” said stae Department of Housing Commissioner Evonne Klein, who later explained that “there is a vital link between housing and community development.”
The grants are designed to help projects that revitalize and beautify downtown areas in the hopes of stimulating local economies with shopping and pedestrian traffic, officials said.
The local grant will help spruce up the Main Street and Farmington Avenue area near the train station which is also undergoing a facelift. The town is in the process of purchasing “Depot Crossing,” a large building on Farmington Avenue that was never completed as the project went belly up in the 2008 recession.
The finished building will include first-floor retail shops and housing on the two floors above. The town has been working for a decade to reshape the downtown area from Farmington Avenue to New Britain Road and Main Street into a pedestrian-friendly walkway which will encourage small shops to move in, Salina said.
The streetscape renovations will extend to the new police station being developed at the former Kensington Furniture building on Farmington Avenue. The project will include hanging flower baskets in the area of Main Street and Kensington Road, ornamental light poles, decorative crosswalks, curbing and sidewalk amenities and landscaping.
The town has already received two Brownsfield redevelopment grants to clean up areas of Farmington Avenue, a $500,000 grant for Veterans Park and a $500,000 façade grant to allow storeowners to give their buildings facelifts.
“It’s wonderful that the governor continues to invest in our ideas,” Salina said.
Lisa Backus can be reached at (860) 225-4601, ext. 306, or lbackus@newbritainherald.com.
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