BELFAST, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- The city of Belfast is a half a million dollars richer, thanks to a grant given to it by the Community Development Block Grant Downtown Revitalization program.
City officials applied for the grant back in January 2011, and found out they had beat out four other towns in the state last month. The funds will be used for such things as street work, signage, parking, sidewalks, lighting, and also landscaping downtown.
According to Economic Development Director for Belfast, Thomas Kittredge, the goal of the revitalization project is to improve the link between the heart of the city's downtown with it's three surrounding community parks. "We have several different parks," says Kittredge. "Steamboat Landing, Heritage Park, Belfast Common. We think this project will help connect that area with Main Street and bring more people to those public amenities."
The project will cost just over $800,000 total. The additional cost, on top of the $500,000 grant, was funded by two grants given to Belfast by the Maine Department of Transportation and the Communities For Maine's Future program. Construction will begin in September and continue into the fall of next year.
NEWS CENTER