EEDC Members:
Lon Seidman, Chairman
Bill Foster
Norman Needleman
Lee Thompson
Mark Uihlein
David Winstead

ESSEX - Essex Village and Ivoryton Center are due for a facelift.

The State Bond Commission last week approved a $486,000 grant to the town, a grant that will be used to upgrade and repair streets, sidewalks, and lighting in the town's two primary retail areas--the main streets of Essex and Ivoryton.

"We are very pleased. We believe that the capital improvements we will finance under this grant can make significant, important improvements in our local economy," Lon Seidman, chairman of the Economic Development Commission, said.

The funds were approved under the Small Town Economic Assistant Program (STEAP) administered through the state's Office of Policy and Management.

"The grants are designed for small towns just like Essex, and are aimed at programs meant to improve the local economy. This was a very competitive process. There were more than 100 applications," Seidman explained.

Members of the Economic Development Commission, First Selectman Philip Miller, Highway Department Director David Caroline, and others have already started meeting to discuss the first steps to be taken in the project.

The expectation is that the renovations and upgrades will revitalize the look of both village centers and encourage increased shopping from local residents and tourists.

Along Main Street in Essex Village, the town wants to install approximately 4,000 feet of new granite curbing, which would be installed in conjunction with the repaving of Main Street. In addition, approximately 16,000 square feet of new concrete sidewalks would be installed. Miller said these would have a special brush finish and be scored to look similar to paving blocks.

Street lighting is the second component of the plan. Sixty-three new 14-foot high "traditional style" street lamps will be installed along the entire length of Main Street in both Essex Village and Ivoryton Center. At the time the town filed its grant application, Miller said there were only 12 light fixtures in Essex Village. In Ivoryton Center there were only four. The lack of appropriate street lighting discourages pedestrian activity in the evenings and raises safety concerns.

"Two members of our commission made significant contributions to this application. Lee Thompson is a former lighting engineer and his expertise was critical. A former member, John Beveridge, is an architect. Together they helped to design this project and develop the budget that makes this project possible," Seidman said.

He said the commission and Miller will meet regularly with residents and business owners in the area "to make this a very open and public process with complete input and review."

In a letter that accompanied the grant application, Seidman wrote, "Over the last several years, the Essex and Ivoryton villages have struggled with a number of empty storefronts. While a number of factors contribute to the problem, we believe the deterioration of our street, inadequate lighting, and potentially dangerous sidewalks make Essex less attractive to prospective businesses...[This] plan addresses all of these issues at a very reasonable cost and will provide a significant economic benefit to two of our village centers."

This represents the second STEAP grant for Essex within the last few years. The first grant provided $220,000 in funds for the design and construction of public restrooms at the town green.