Canton Receives Main Street Funding

Canton has received $387,000 in Main Street Investment Funding from the state of Connecticut. 

"We’re extremely excited that we received the state grant and are anxious to get our Main Street program moving forward,” said First Selectman Richard Barlow.

Thursday morning, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, joined by Department of Housing Commissioner Evonne Klein, and state and local officials in Berlin, announced nearly $5 million in grants to 14 Connecticut towns. The program, administered through the State Department of Housing, provides funding to develop or improve town commercial districts, attract small businesses, and improve pedestrian access and livability in town centers.

“Main Street Investment grants play an important role in strengthening economic development initiatives on the local level,” said Malloy. “This program is unique in that it builds a working partnership between state government and the smaller communities that are striving to strengthen their commercial centers and attract additional business. I applaud the leadership in Berlin, and in the other 13 towns, for their focus on creating accessible and livable downtowns.”

Canton, according to a release from the governor's office, will receive $387,000 for the construction of historically appropriate improvements that will provide safe pedestrian access, organized parking, and create critical linkages between areas with significant activity to areas of businesses.  Funds will be used for sidewalks, way-finding signs, trees, pedestrian lights, crosswalks, and other safety and aesthetic improvements.

In November, Canton applied for the The Main Street Investment Fund Program, a state initiative that awards towns up to $500,000 to improve commercial centers, primarily for use in downtown Collinsville. 

For the grant application the town provided a detailed narrative and other documentation from a plan developed by Milone & MacBroom free of charge last fall. It incorporated suggestions from the 2012 Collinsville Upper Mill Pond Master Plan, the 2008 Pedestrian and Vehicular Safety Committee report and a 1997 Collinsville Scenic Corridor study.

"Although we had budgeted for the maximum, the amount funded will allow a considerable portion of the Collinsville 'Town Commercial Center Plan' to move forward," Town Planner Neil Pade said Thursday. "The final details of how the funding is allocated will need to be worked out as the project goes into design."

The town has also become part of the CT Main Street Program and part of that process is forming a group representing residents, merchants and other local stakeholders, Pade said. 

"With these two projects coming together there’s good opportunity to maximize the benefits for the town," he said.