Needs community support by June 15
By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—The Downtown Brandon Alliance, whose mission is to keep Brandon’s downtown business district vital and attractive, has been awarded a $29,100 Better Places grant from the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The grant will go toward the refurbishment and beautification of “Bankers Alley” between Bar Harbor Bank and the National Bank of Middlebury on Park Street.
The alley will be part of DBA’s “Park-2-Park” project, which envisions a network of attractive paths connecting Brandon’s various parks. Bankers Alley connects Central Park (site of the gazebo) with Kennedy Park, which overlooks the upper falls on the Neshobe between Blue Moon Boutique and Dubois & King on Center Street.
“The Chamber had been trying to do something with the alley for years,” said Devon Fuller, President of the DBA. “We were finally able to get the funding to make it happen.”
The specific plans for the alley include removing and replacing the deteriorated asphalt, repairing the brick on both banks’ buildings, installing illuminated decorative metal archways and concrete planters, and exhibiting a rotating display of artwork along the alley walls.
The catch to the grant, though, is that the DBA must raise 1/3 of the total grant amount itself, through community donations. This comes to $9,700 that the DBA must raise by June 15 in order to receive the remaining $19,400 from the DHCD.
“The great thing about this grant is that it’s the community saying, ‘This is worthwhile,’” said Fuller. “We’re not asking the Selectboard for anything. If we can get donations of $50 or $100, it won’t take that many people to get us to the goal.”
The town will retain ownership of the alleyway itself, though the walls belong to the respective banks and the installations will belong to the DBA.
Anyone interested in donating to the project can visit patronicity.com and enter “park-2-park” in the search bar. Or send a check (no cash) to DBA P.O. Box 361 Brandon, VT 05733. The DBA’s match goal of $9,700 must be reached by June 15 for the organization to receive the remaining $19,400.
If the goal of $9,700 is not reached by June 15, all donations will be returned to their donors.
Anyone interested in submitting a proposal for artwork can send a bio or resume (1 to 2 pages), 4 to 6 images of previous artwork, a sketch of the proposed artwork, and a brief narrative describing the proposed project. Proposals must be received by June 15. Send materials to brandondba@yahoo.com.
