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The city of Chester is offering business owners along Avenue of the States up to $50,000 to beautify the face of their buildings.
The Facade Enhancement Initiative (FEI) is designed to elevate the aesthetics of the city’s central business district and fulfill promises first-term Mayor Stefan Roots made in June’s state of the city address.
Funding for the project comes by way of leftover American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
“We’ve needed to use a lot of that money to keep the city afloat, to do a lot of capital programs within the city with so much deferred maintenance,” Roots said. “But it was only fair to the community itself, particularly our business community and the people who enjoy a rejuvenated downtown, to invest some money.”
The city is granting priority to minority- and women-owned businesses. City project manager Sean Chin described this first phase as a pilot. The FEI application period ends July 31.
“We have a contractor, a 3D rendering as well as an architect that has been awarded for the program and they’ll be going out to the different properties to see specifically what improvements can be made within the facade,” Chin said.
Chester officials have long yearned for a “Main Street” resurgence. In recent months, Roots has underscored that dream with a desire to leverage the bankrupt city’s position as a college town to drive traffic into the business district. Roots said there’s already a growing arts scene in Chester.
“The next step to making this a real attractive downtown is to make it very attractive to look at as you’re walking up and down the street or driving up and down the street — and that’s what the facade improvement project is all about,” Roots said.
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