Norwalk 2.0 nabs one of 7 grants from CT Main Street Center

NORWALK, Conn. – Norwalk 2.0 is one of seven organizations picked by Connecticut Main Street Center (CMSC), the downtown revitalization and economic development non-profit, to share $70,000 in Preservation of Place grants this year.

The 2014 grants also will be used in Bridgeport, Canton, Essex, New London, the Northwest corner and Willimantic for targeted resources to increase their capacity to plan for preservation and revitalization initiatives in their downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.

The Preservation of Place grant program provides a source of funding for new initiatives that can be integrated into, and leverage, comprehensive Main Street preservation and revitalization programs, according to the Connecticut by the Numbers website. The funds are meant to be flexible to meet individual community need.

The selected organizations or initiatives will receive between $5,000 and $14,500 in Preservation of Place grant funds:

• Bridgeport Downtown Special Services District, for the creation of a plan that will use open spaces to facilitate creating placemaking in downtown Bridgeport

• Town of Canton, for the development of Collinsville Village Zoning Regulations;

• Town of Essex, for a Centerbrook Visioning & Action Plan;

• New London Main Street, for an organizational and leadership development and capacity-building plan,

• Norwalk 2.0, for the Freese Park Artist Village Plan;

• Northwest CT Regional Planning Collaborative, for Active Main Street: Enlivening Village Center Public Spaces;

• Thread City Development, Inc. (Willimantic), for an organizational and leadership development plan.