Facades.....Again

Journal story...

DOWNTOWN MIDDLETOWN

Facade grant program aids in downtown revitalization

MIDDLETOWN —
In an ongoing effort to put a new face on downtown Middletown, city officials are awarding thousands of dollars in grants to help business owners there spruce up their store fronts and create “curb appeal.”

Downtown Middletown Inc. is working with the city for the second year in a row to distribute as much as $50,000 to more than a half dozen downtown businesses through the Downtown Middletown Facade Grant Program. Those receiving a grant are required to invest at least half the cost of the improvement project themselves, and the grants will be paid only when the project is complete and paid for within a year.

Businesses must start their facade improvements within three months of grant approval.

“When you give someone money outright, they’re less likely to take care of that space,” said Patrick Kay, executive director of Downtown Middletown Inc. “When you make sure they put in at least 50 percent of the cost of a project, you’re going to see a lot more pride, a lot more craftsmanship, and a lot more maintaining of that property.”

WHEN THIS ALL STARTED, WEREN'T THEY GIVING AWAY THE TAXPAYER'S MONEY WITH NO MONETARY DONATION FROM THE BUSINESS?

Art Central Foundation president Sue Wittman said the grant for its $27,310 project will help pay for repairs at the former Masonic Lodge, 4 N. Main St. The backside of the building will have new gutters and downspouts, and doors and windows, while the front will see the full glass windows repaired, the stained glass stabilized and a second front door added to create two retail spaces on the lower level

WASN'T THE MASONIC TEMPLE DONATED TO THE ART CENTRAL FOUNDATION? NOW, WE'RE GIVING THEM MORE MONEY TO FIX THE PLACE UP? AND, IN THE END, WE GET....WHAT FOR OUR MONEY?

The Pendleton Art Center’s $33,606 project will remove blocked-in windows on the second floor and install new windows, pressure wash the building, and install colorful awnings and replace a damaged window in the front of the building.

But the biggest noticeable change outside off the awnings, which PAC spokeswoman Susan Sizer said will “give it a lot of punch,” will be the building’s purple paint job. This will help people identify the building driving along North Verity Parkway as well as those who drive and walk by it on Central Avenue, she said.

“There is so much traffic coming (south) on Verity Parkway we felt it was important,” Sizer said, adding it will build intrigue with a purple building among the red brick of many of the older downtown buildings.

BOY, THE OLD PENDLETON IS STILL GETTING ALL THE ATTENTION ISN'T IT? "SO MUCH TRAFFIC COMING SOUTH ON VERITY"...

I REALLY LIKE THIS STATEMENT....

The colorful awnings are an alternative to the metal car hoods — meant to be a tribute to Middletown’s steel-making roots — initially proposed to adorn the exterior of the building. The car hood idea was eventually abandoned because they would have been too heavy to support

REALLY? TOO HEAVY TO SUPPORT HUH?    HOW ABOUT THE REALIZATION THAT THE HOODS WERE JUST TOO GAWDY, EVEN FOR THE ONES WHO PROPOSED IT. THAT SOUND MORE LIKE IT?

The face lift will make the arts building look more like an arts building, she said

AND WHAT, PRAY TELL, IS THE CRITERIA FOR AN ARTS BUILDING TO LOOK LIKE AN ARTS BUILDING?

“In my opinion, it is the outward appearance of the economic growth that is happening,” she said of the grant program that has leveraged hundreds of thousands of investment dollars. “If there isn’t any business going on, you can’t leverage any money.”

AND HOW MANY BUILDINGS THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE FACADE FACELIFTS ARE OCCUPIED BECAUSE OF THE FACADE IMPROVEMENTS? STILL SEEMS TO BE AN AWFUL LOT OF EMPTY STOREFRONTS DOWN ALONG CENTRAL, DOESN'T THERE? IS THIS REALLY WORKING?

Kay said all of the work means there will be more temporary jobs in downtown, and once the work is completed, a potential increase in foot traffic and more permanent jobs

AND THAT'S JUST WHAT THIS TOWN NEEDS KAY, MORE TEMPORARY JOBS PAYING SERVICE LEVEL WAGES. MERCY, THE BOY IS LOST. A "POTENTIAL INCREASE IN FOOT TRAFFIC"....DOESN'T SOUND LIKE ALOT OF CONFIDENCE THERE, DOES IT?

The projects “make things more inviting for people to want to be down here,” Kay said

YEAH, IT'S A PERVERBIAL MADHOUSE DOWN THERE KAY. MORE EMBELLISHMENT.   MERCY.

Hope and change