NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF ORILLIA
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Four projects in downtown Orillia were awarded grants today thanks to the City of Orillia’s Downtown Tomorrow Community Improvement Plan (DTCIP) Grant Program.
“The Downtown Tomorrow Grant Program is helping businesses in the city’s core make improvements to their properties that they may not have otherwise been able to afford,” said Mayor Steve Clarke. “So far, seven projects that received an improvement grant are complete and we’re beginning to see the positive impact these projects have on the look and feel of the downtown.”
The DTCIP grant panel awarded four grants today totalling $45,825 as part of the third 2018 intake of the DTCIP Grant Program.
The program, now in its second year, includes financial incentives designed to stimulate development in Orillia’s core. Grants awarded this intake include feasibility and design study grants, façade improvements as well as a residential grant which will encourage more people to live and work in the downtown core. To date, for every dollar the City has invested, ten dollars have been invested by local business owners.
"I am very excited to see Orillia coming forward to help small entrepreneurs,” said Mike Radonicich, grant recipient and owner of property at 58 Albert St. S. "This assistance from the DTCIP program will enable me to rehabilitate an underutilized property in the downtown to help revitalize the city's core.”
The final four recipients of the 2018 DTCIP Grant Program are:
- 62 Peter St. N. - $3,000 for feasibility and design drawings to install a barrier-free access ramp
- 58 Albert St. S. - $32,000 for residential and feasibility/design grants to develop a vacant piece of property and create four new residential units
- 131 Atherley Rd. - $7,500 for facade improvements to upgrade storefront as well as replace store signage
- 14 Peter St. S. - $3,325 for facade work to replace and upgrade to a barrier-free accessible door
“Most applicants who have received a DTCIP grant have commented that it has allowed them to complete larger scale projects and complete them earlier than expected with the help of the financial boost,” said Laura Thompson, Manager of Real Estate and Commercial Development.
“We will be continuing the grant program in 2019 and encourage those who are considering projects for the New Year to contact us to get the application process started.”
Applications will be available in January 2019 and the first intake deadline is set for the end of February. For more information on the DTCIP Grant Program, or to book your mandatory pre-consultation, contact the City of Orillia Economic Development Office at 705-325-4900, or click here.
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