$102,500 grant supports revitalization of County’s key commercial areas

Main Street Picton as seen in a postcard from 1869.

A $102,500 grant from the Ontario government will help the County of Prince  Edward support a Regional Downtown Revitalization Project.

The grant was awarded through the Rural Economic Development Program Planning stream of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. It is to support investment in, and revitalization of the County’s key commercial areas.

The Downtown Revitalization Project pilot project, currently under way, to to last just over two years, ending on December 31, 2016, noted Wendy Lane, in a press statement.

The project will involve and include volunteers, project committees  and business/ratepayers associations from each of the County’s five key commercial areas: Picton, Bloomfield, Wellington, Consecon and Rossmore.

“Five individualized plans will be created,” said Lane, “with one over-arching Downtown Revitalization Strategy for Prince Edward County as a whole. The County will work closely with the Chamber of Commerce, local Business Associations, Ontario Training Board and the Prince Edward Lennox and Addington Community Futures Corporation while completing this project. The Community Development Commission will ultimately endorse the recommendations in the over-arching strategy.”

The grant will also help fund the recruitment of a Downtown Revitalization Coordinator to collect required data and act as a liaison between community groups while conducting research to develop downtown revitalization plans.

“The Downtown Revitalization Project aims to strengthen the relationship between the
County’s five downtown areas and identify opportunities for business attraction, retention, growth and development, while promoting residential development within the core areas,” said Lane.