The Gettysburg Borough Council on July 22 approved committing matching funds of $315,000 for a grant to be submitted by Main Street Gettysburg and the Baltimore Street Renovation Project.
Deb Adamik, Main Street Gettysburg president and CEO. said if the grant were successful it would bring about $2M for the project. The deadline for the application is the end of August. If the application is successful, the grant will be awarded by the end of the year.
The council discussed using capital funds, taking out a new loan, or using money from the $330,000 currently reserved for economic development. Councilmembers Jake Schindel and Wesley Heyser cautioned against using all of the economic development money, arguing that there are other improvement projects around town that are also needed.
Heyser said he didn’t think the borough should be the sole contributor to the Main Street project.
Councilmember Patti Lawson said she was “excited” about the project and noted this is a “major commercial district” and we should not be “short-sighted.”
Adamik said a diverse coalition of motivated people are involved in the project. She pointed out that Main Street is a “snowball that’s starting to grow and now is not the time to stop it. To not try, that worries me a bit,” she said.
“The borough does need to step up more on these projects. I don’t think we should pass up the grant. We’re fortunate to be where we are on this. It’s a big step for the borough,” said borough council president Susan Naugle.
The borough will determine which financial sources to use for the grant at a later date.
Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.