The City of Chicopee is excited to announce that the Department of Planning & Development is pursuing a grant through MassDevelopment’s Commonwealth Places program to beautify the streetscape in Chicopee Center. This campaign requires your help to fundraise! The Planning Department is pursuing this grant to fund the Chicopee Center Gateway Project, which includes the following:
- Installing hanging banners and floral baskets on the historic lamp posts along the main corridors in Chicopee Center; and
- Commissioning a sculpture artist to construct a public art-inspired bus shelter to be sited at the PVTA bus stop in front of the Racing Oil site on Center Street.
The City is asking your help to raise $17,000 to fund this project. If the $17,000 is raised by August 11th, 2017, MassDevelopment will match this money, to bring the total project funding to $34,000.
The Gateway Project has the opportunity to greatly improve the atmosphere of Chicopee Center. The banners and baskets represent a classic way to beautify a streetscape and by installing a functional piece of public art in front of a soon-to-be redeveloped Brownfield, we can change the curb appeal of a whole block in Chicopee Center. This in turn could bring new businesses into the vacant storefronts downtown and bring more people to the streets. This project is a step towards residents of the City reclaiming their neighborhood and helping it live up to its potential. To learn more about this project and donate to the cause, visit: www.patronicity.com/Chicopee!
If you have any questions about the project, please contact Jack Benjamin, Assistant Planner, at jbenjamin@chicopeema.gov or (413) 594-1485.
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