Community Improvement Plan grants available – is your property eligible?

By Casandra Turnbull

There’s a lot of effort that goes into maintaining Paris’ natural and historical beauty In 2019, to strengthen that effort the Downtown Paris Community Improvement Plan was formally adopted and supported by Council This long-term revitalization guide will help navigate the beautification and rehabilitation of existing and aging structures as well as future growth. Not all property owners are aware that this Community Improvement Plan (CIP) offers several grant opportunities to help fund improvement projects that align with the downtown design guidelines.

Soon, a new brochure and social media campaign will hit the streets, and webpages, to help promote what’s available and how you can make application. During a Communities Improvement Plan Committee meeting on July 10th , members got a glimpse of the new brochure and viewed sample social media posts, created by talented County of Brant summer students, said Zach Gable, Director of Economic Development and Tourism Currently, the County of Brant has three CIPs underway including Paris, Burford, and St. George. Each community has its own unique design guidelines that are intended to be applicable to both the improvement of existing buildings and to guide the suitable design of new buildings and structures. The CIP allows applicants to apply for grants under the following categories: façade improvement, signage, upper storey apartment improvement, property and private parking area improvement, planning and building application fee, adaptive commercial reuse, tax increment equivalent program, brownfield study and brownfield property tax assistance.

Gable noted that several business owners have recently completed successful CIP grant applications – the Paris Pub has new signage, and the Arlington Hotel and the River’s Edge (event facility) were just approved for similar grants and work will be underway shortly on those projects, he reported. Gable also provided committee members with an update with respect to the brick work under construction at 125 Grand River Street North beside the Garden of Hope downtown Scaffolding and tarps cover the wall that houses a historic town mural. The work started last year and has been stagnant for several months as contractors were halted during the winter and there was some difficulty finding appropriate heritage materials for the repairs.

As it turns out, said Gable, the mural that covered the brick was a canvass type material that trapped moisture between it and the bricks, causing damage. He said consideration will be required on how to reinstate the mural after the work is completed. Continued on Pg. 6

Committee Member, Mayor David Bailey, weighed in on the update, saying when the brick work is complete there will be a time period when the mural isn’t hung right away and the County needs to be proactive and ensure the community’s informed of what is happening, so not to upset the many residents who worked to get the mural in place, but also those who appreciated its presence The scaffolding should be removed by the end of July, said Gable. Monday morning’s meeting also featured a brief presentation from Henry Stolp of Northern Rudders Holdings, and owner of 1, 5, 7 and 9 Grand River St. N. Stolp already successfully completed a CIP grant in June 2021 to revamp 1 Grand River St N, home office for Pinevest Homes (former Godfather’s Pizza!). Stolp is going through the process again to access more grants for 5, 7 and 9 Grand River St. N. He has big renovation plans for the buildings, some which have not seen occupancy since October 2021 “We are excited about doing it. It’s more of a labour of love than a huge financial reward, but it’s something that needs to be done downtown Paris and it will look fantastic,” said Stolp. Plans are to renovate a total of five residential units above the commercial spaces, one with a complete river view. He’s contracted Lanca Construction to complete the work, which he hopes to begin after Labour Day weekend. There are plans to change the exterior façade of 9 Grand River St N, while maintaining its current yellow brick appearance. Meanwhile next door, at the freshly renovated building currently housed by Arepa Love Paris, CIP grant helped to fund that project too, said Stolp.

If you want to learn more about the CIP grants visit the County’s webpage or watch for a brochure to hit the streets soon.