Montana Mainstreet Grant Awarded in Townsend
 | Author:
Rachael Elliott-Brug
Rachael Brug: MT43 News Vice President and Copy Editor |
Montana Mainstreet Grant Awarded in Townsend Rachael Elliott-Brug The Mainstreet Montana Program is a collaborative effort between the Community Development Division and the Montana Office of Tourism at the Montana Department of Commerce. The program focuses on transformation strategies organized around Four Points: economic vitality, design, promotion and organization. Mainstreet Montana is a part of the Mainstreet America Program which is active in 1600 communities and neighborhoods across the country. They offer competitive funding in the form of Impact and Project and Planning Grants to member communities who are "actively working on downtown revitalization, economic development, and historic preservation". Previous grants have been awarded in Anaconda, Red Lodge, Roundup, Lewistown and more.
For the first time since the program's creation in 2005, a project in Townsend has been awarded a Mainstreet Montana Grant. Inspired by the vision of a semi-outdoor community space on the main street of Townsend, BCDC applied for the grant in December in cooperation with Reading Leaves Books. The city received a letter of award from the Governor in early February. The project will take place at 401 Broadway and has two parts. The first is an ADA-accessible restroom. The building's current restroom cannot accommodate being a community venue. The second part of the project is turning the outside covered lean-to into a usable community space. Named "The Nook", the community will be able to reserve the space for functions, and it will include seating, tables, power, and maybe a few surprises.
One of the grant's conditions is a 20% match of funds. The matching funds will be raised via sponsorships of pieces of the project. In an effort to keep as many of the grant dollars in the community as possible most of the projects will be constructed locally. If you or your group would like to sponsor part of this project, please reach out to BCDC at bcdc@mt.net.
