Pembroke seeking grant money to spruce up downtown
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Pembroke's downtown may soon have more help to continue to promote the city's core.
Susan Ellis, economic development, recreation and tourism manager, said they are seeking council's approval to apply to the Eastern Ontario Development Fund for money to continue the work of revitalizing downtown.
Because of the timelines, she said they have submitted an application to the local Community Futures Development Corporation to obtain grant dollars for Phase II of the revitalization project. The first part was due to wrap up by the end of March.
If they get approved, Ellis said as part of that, they would be able to hire a youth intern for nine months, who will be overseeing a number of tasks to actively promote the downtown. This person would report directly to her.
These activities include planning and implementing several events and activities to attract people to come to the city's centre on a regular basis, something she said hasn't been happening in the last three years; helping to create and promote a new logo to represent downtown, in conjunction with the merchants and the public; and to help plan and implement a marketing and promotional campaign targeted at Ottawa Valley shoppers to bring them here.
If they get the grant, it would be worth three-quarters of the revitalization project's budget of $36,000, or $27,000. The remaining $9,000 would be the city's portion of it.
Ellis said even if the application is approved, there is no obligation for the city to follow through with it if they do not wish to do so. She said council should consider what they would be getting for their money, essentially a $36,000 project for an investment of $9,000, before they render a final decision.
The economic development committee decided to wait until they receive word on if the application had been successful or not before proceeding further.
Stephen Uhler is a Daily Observer multimedia journalist