GREENFIELD — A downtown is "a quiet asset," according to Joanie Fitzwater.
"It gives you a sense of comfort and it makes you feel at ease when you’re around historic buildings," the Greenfield planning director said. "You feel the tradition behind them and it feels very stable, so it’s an honorable thing I think to give a nod to the past and keep working on improving the future."
For almost a decade now, an initiative has been working to give that nod by helping downtown Greenfield properties put their best facade forward.
Greenfield Main Street’s Downtown Improvement Grant Program has awarded more than $110,000 toward upgrading the exteriors of downtown buildings and houses since 2010. The program is back for another cycle through the middle of this month with thousands of dollars available for freshening frontages.
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Twice a year, the program offers matching grants of up to $3,000 to downtown business, building and home owners for enhancements like fresh paint, signage, awnings, windows, tuckpointing and other exterior improvements to the fronts of properties.
"The bottom line is that historic preservation equals economic development, that small communities can pull themselves up and ignite the vibrancy of their community through historic preservation projects," said Fitzwater, who is also a Greenfield Main Street board member and past president.
The nonprofit is part of Main Street America, whose goal is to revitalize older and historic commercial districts across the country. Facade improvement programs are one of the organization’s main tenets, Fitzwater said.
Greenfield City Council provides about $20,000 to the facade improvement program each year. The program has made about 70 awards locally since its start in 2010.
Fitzwater and Tom Strickland, who chairs Greenfield Main Street’s Design Committee, pointed to how the facade improvement program has supported downtown projects that have totaled nearly $750,000 over the years.
"It’s a spur to get the bigger picture done in a lot of cases," Strickland said of the program.
Jim and Maria Dawson bought the building at 2 W. Main St. last year to house their business, Bradley Hall Events. Greenfield Main Street put $3,000 toward the couple’s efforts to replace the building’s awnings along State and Main streets with ones that bared their business’ name. One of the latest awnings is for The Greenfield Grind, a coffee shop the Dawsons also own in the building.
"It was a great opportunity to be able to be part of that," Maria Dawson said.
Mitch Doran, the owner of Family Bike Chain at 109 E. Main St. in downtown Greenfield, received nearly $1,400 from Greenfield Main Street toward a new awning and sign in 2017. He said he moved his business from North Street to downtown for its more central location and proximity to the Pennsy Trail.
The downtown Greenfield of today is far different from the one it was 10 years ago, Fitzwater said.
"It was pretty much a ghost town," she said. "The sidewalks rolled up at 4:00 and you were done. It’s a lot different in the last decade. Things have changed dramatically, and I think a lot of it has to do with the work Main Street’s been doing and the city together with Main Street. It takes that public-private connection to make things like this really ignite."
Strickland said plenty of Indiana towns that relied on a single industry have experienced financial troubles when those industries left, leaving downtowns with vacant buildings.
That hasn’t been the case for Greenfield for the most part, he continued, which he attributes to the city’s closeness to Indianapolis and the fact that its economy never had to rely on one industry. That kind of environment already in place makes initiatives like the facade improvement program all the more beneficial, he said.
"It just puts a happy face on our town, and people are attracted to that," he said.
Fitzwater agreed, adding that a downtown is the heart of a community.
"It’s one of the things that can make you feel really good about where you live," she said.
The Greenfield Main Street Downtown Improvement Grant Program’s current spring cycle continues through April 15. Downtown property owners who are interested can apply online at greenfieldmainstreet.org.
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WHO: Downtown Greenfield business, building and home owners
WHAT: 1-to-1 matching grants up to $3,000 for facade improvements
WHEN: Applications available through April 15
WHERE: Apply at greenfieldmainstreet.org
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Greenfield Main Street Downtown Improvement Grant Program 2010 through present
- $110,705 in awards
- $734,156 in estimated project costs
- About 70 awards
Source: Greenfield Main Street
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