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

Published on 8/5/2004
By: Marianne Sullivan
The Valley Courier

ESSEX - The town has submitted a proposal to the state, hoping to win a $486,000 grant that will be used to upgrade the main streets in Essex Village and Ivoryton Center.

First Selectman Philip Miller said the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) is administered through the state's Office of Policy and Management. In this fiscal year, he said, the STEAP program received $20 million in funding from the State Legislature.

"We know there is significant competition for the funding but we are hopeful. We have a good proposal," he said.

The grant seeks funds to upgrade and repair the streets, sidewalks, and lighting in the town's two primary retail areas, the main streets of Essex and Ivoryton. The expectation is that the renovations and upgrades will revitalize the look of both areas 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. These, Miller said, 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 Essex Village and in Ivoryton Center. According to Miller, at present there are only 12 light fixtures in Essex Village and in Ivoryton Center there are only four. The lack of appropriate street lighting discourages pedestrian activity in the evenings and raises safety concerns.

In a cover letter the accompanies the grant application, Lon Seidman, chairman of the Economic Development Commission, said, "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 streets, 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."

If the town receives the grant, Miller said the town would like to begin the project in the spring of 2005, with completion planned for that summer.

In their application, town officials wrote, "As with most rural towns, the vast majority of tax dollars are dedicated to education and public safety, leaving little or no funds for maintaining the infrastructure.

"Curbing, what there is of it, is asphalt and has been badly torn up over the past few winters. Concrete sidewalks are cracked and heaving...Street lighting is limited and what there is of it is unattractive and utilitarian."

Miller said the curbing, repaving and new, attractive streetlights would emphasize the historic features of both village areas.

(subhead)Future Concerns

Although some long-vacant storefronts in Essex Village have now been filled, local businesses and town officials continue to work on a variety of issues they believe are critical to the revitalization of the town's economic health. The main streets are one issue.

A second is available parking. Merchants have raised concerns about the lack of parking for customers and visitors in the Essex village area. At the same time, the town would like to provide suitable additional parking for visitors to the Essex Steam Train, an attraction that pulls in tourists from across the region. Convenient parking, town officials hope, might also encourage these visitors to extend their stay in town to visit the retail areas in Ivoryton and downtown Essex.

A third issue is more long-range. It is a discussion of how Essex can take advantage of its small town New England village atmosphere, maintain its character, and still permit appropriate economic growth.

In this grant application, town officials discuss one aspect of that concern and the updating of the Plan of Conservation and Development that is now underway.

"In conjunction with aggressively maintaining [the town's] present scale and character, the plan strongly endorses a firm tax base supported by commercial activity to provide the financial means to do so. At the heart of this commercial activity is retail shopping. It is the cornerstone of our economy," the grant application says.

"The plan discourages Essex as a regional shopping destination and strongly encourages retail in support of local citizenry and tourism, the lifeblood of our community. Thus, attracting not only our citizens but also tourists to our retail centers, particularly Essex Village and the Ivoryton center is essential and critical," the application continues.