Category Archives: Design

Downtown Awarded $25,000 Main Street Grant

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Staunton, Virginia. February 29, 2012 – The Staunton Downtown Development Association was recently awarded a Main Street Improvement grant valued at $25,000 to fund the upgrade of Downtown Service District streetscape lighting in The Wharf, Staunton Station and Middlebrook Avenue areas.   

Greg Beam, SDDA Board President remarked on the grant award:  “Receiving this grant significantly increases our ability to continue a number of Design, Economic Development and Promotions projects that have been in the works for years.  The new lighting will make the targeted areas more inviting for evening business and better connect the many unique areas within our Downtown Service District.” 

Virginia Main Street Downtown Improvement Grants of up to $25,000 per designated community were made available for special, one-time projects. The grant opportunity is designed to offer communities the ability to complete a Main Street-related project for which financial resources are not otherwise available. Grant criteria included economic, measurable impact or deliverables, committee or volunteer project leadership/involvement, leveraging of other fund sources, local government involvement/support and short duration of project. 

Current Lighting Does Not Illuminate Sidewalks

There are 42 fixtures in the target areas that were installed a part of the Downtown Streetscape Plan in the 1980’s.  Currently, existing fixtures emit 3,200 lumens from 42 watt compact fluorescents.  Much of that light is lost up into the sky and does not illuminate sidewalks.  The Main Street grant will fund new luminaries with 70 watt metal halide lights that emit 5,500 lumens directed toward the walkways. The new lights will use less energy and satisfy the dark sky initiative. It is estimated that this will increase the light level on the walkways by 3 to 4 times. 

Example of New Lighting

This upgrade will be completed through the leveraging of a strong partnership between the Staunton Downtown Development Association, the City of Staunton and the Public Work Department. “Thanks to the hard work of Julie Markowitz, downtown Staunton will be look brighter at night, and continues to get better,” said Tom Sliwoski, Director of Public Works. 

The SDDA’s Design, Promotions and Economic Development Committees will be involved in the project development as well as businesses in the affected areas. 

 “The additional funding will drastically improve the lighting in the Wharf and the Train Station creating better connection for those businesses and driving evening traffic to their doors,” said Julie Markowitz, Executive Director of the SDDA. “The upgraded lighting will look similar to the new lighting installed on Churchville Avenue and be a vast improvement in visibility for those businesses.”

Downtown Improvement Grant Extends Downtown Streetscape

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New, branded banners made possible by a Virginia Main Street Downtown Improvement Grant have been installed in the Churchville Avenue Streetscape.  The banners were added to enhance the recent improvements made in that area and to increase the connectivity between the Central Avenue business cluster and the Historic Downtown District. 

The Staunton Downtown Development Association was awarded the Main Street Improvement Grant valued at $2,500 in June 2010.  It funded the extension of Downtown Service District banners to the Churchville Avenue streetscape, with several locations on North Augusta and Lewis Streets and Central Avenue. 

Virginia Main Street Downtown Improvement Grants of up to $2,500 per designated community were made available for special, one-time projects. The grant program offered communities the ability to complete a Main Street-related project for which financial resources are not otherwise available. Grant criteria included measurable impact or deliverables, committee or volunteer project leadership/involvement, leveraging of other fund sources, local government involvement/support and short duration of project. 

The SDDA Design Committee had already budgeted for new, branded street banners to replace existing banners on Beverley and Frederick Streets.  The grant dollars facilitated the purchase of additional banners and brackets for the upgraded streetscape design at the north end of the District. The Churchville Avenue project included new public utilities and brick sidewalk installation, grading and paving operations, storm drainage construction, traffic signal installation and new lighting fixtures.  The improvements are valued at $2,688,566. 

The Staunton City Government utilized the 2004 Streetscape Plan, compiled by the SDDA Design Committee, as a reference for designing the streetscape improvements that border the Downtown Service District (DSD) along Churchville Avenue and North Augusta Street.  The project creates an attractive gateway into Downtown and connects the DSD with Gypsy Hill Park and Gypsy Hill Place, a development project in the Old Lee High School which contains apartments, the Staunton Senior Center and the ShenanArts Community Theater offices and performance space. 

“The additional funding extended the downtown banner project to the Churchville Avenue corridor and the adjoining streets, leveraging the existing streetscape investment and increasing the engagement of merchants and property owners,” said Julie Markowitz, Executive Director of the SDDA. “Installing new, colorful banners in those areas shows SDDA support for businesses and property owners in that part of the District.”

Mini-Grant Facilitates Downtown Green Project

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Staunton Green 2020, Mary Baldwin College and the City of Staunton were awarded a mini-grant to plant a demonstration native grass and flower border/stormwater buffer in the “RMA” parking lot adjacent to Mill Street Grill. On Oct. 20, 2010 Mary Baldwin students and community members were led by Matt Sensabaugh, City of Staunton Horticulturalist.

 

Update on Two Downtown Restoration Projects

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You may have been too distracted by the ongoing road projects around downtown to notice a couple other changes and restoration projects going on in the District.  The Planning and Inspections Department documented the removal of the Sears Hill Pedestrian Bridge on November 1.  Check out the awesome pictures and more about the project HERE.   Want to help with the rebuilding?

 

The Friends of the Sears Hill Bridge is beginning to raise funds to repair this historic structure to re-connect Sear Hill and Downtown.  Jars for cash contributions can be found in retail stores and restaurants by Friday, December 3rd.  Tax-deductible credit card contributions can be made to the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge which is acting as the fiscal sponsor by visiting the Foundation’s website.

And on November 11 City Council voted to hold a permanent urban open space conservation easement on the property at  280 and 274 North Central Avenue and 217A North Lewis Street, which will give the owner access to special assistance in privately funding the design and construction the restoration of Peyton Creek located on these parcels.  

The buildings and pavement have been removed in accordance with environmental protection guidelines and Peyton Creek is now open to the daylight, which will allow the re-creation of a riparian environment that can be shaped and planted with native plants.  For updates and the history of this project visit the city’s website.  

   

Recipe for Main Street Success

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Take a city with beautiful abandoned buildings, vacancies and blight, add a pinch of social consciousness, passionate community preservationists and historians, fold in a supportive City Council and Government and blend with a healthy portion of Virginia Main Street.   Mix and bake for about 20 years and you’ve cooked up Downtown Staunton, Virginia.

Evolution of a Main Street

The evolution of our downtown from a once neglected business area back to a more vibrant,sustainable central business district is a story of passionate historic restoration and steady progression through attention-getting activities toward carefully planned economic restructuring programs. Here is a visual walk-through of how Staunton has evolved under the Main Street model of downtown revitalization.

Please join us for an ongoing conversation about our successes and failures! Help us discover new ways to continue to grow the crown jewel of Virginia’s Queen City—our historic downtown– into a thriving, sustainable place to work, live, and share with friends, family and visitors.  Add your voice to this process!