Local coffee shop gets reimbursed for repairs
Downtown Lewistown Inc. aides local business
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LEWISTOWN -- East End Coffee Company in Lewistown recently completed rehabilitation of the 18 East Market St. storefront aided in part by a reimbursement grant from Downtown Lewistown Inc.
The brick exterior was cleaned and painted by local painter Jeremy Croissette with recovering of the existing awning frame with a canvas replacement provided by Mid State Awning of Bellefonte. As a stipulation of the grant and in agreement with the Borough of Lewistown, all exterior elevations must be code compliant upon completion. Downtown Lewistown Inc. provided a $2,719 matching reimbursement grant for the facade improvement effort.
"Downtown Lewistown Inc. was extremely accommodating of our timeline for completion of the facade work, flexible with finding the right contractors for our project and the design application process was easy," Ryan Cherry, co-owner of East End Coffee Company, said.
DLI supported these projects with reimbursements matched with investment from the property owner. The projects were made possible in part by a $50,000 allocation from the state, Department of Community & Economic Development and support from the Board of Directors of DLI.
A committee of interested and involved community leaders initially reviewed the project in terms of the level of rehabilitation, and work that would address compliance with basic health, safety and building codes. This recommendation was then forwarded to the DLI Board of Directors for their concurrence and approval.
Additionally, exterior inspections of the properties are conducted by the Code Enforcement Officer and the DLI executive director prior to and at the conclusion of the project. Once the project is complete, the exterior of the properties must meet current codes as stipulated by the International Property Maintenance Code for Existing Buildings.
A maintenance agreement is also required for applicants ensuring compliance with property maintenance and retention of the improvements proscribed by the program. These reimbursement grants are intended to utilize a minimal amount of public funding to leverage significant, long lasting, visible and appropriate improvement to commercial and mixed-use properties in the downtown.
DLI is a charitable non-profit 501c (3) organization funded in part by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with support from the Borough of Lewistown, the Mifflin County Industrial Development Corporation and local business, industry and private property owners.
For more information regarding investment opportunities in Downtown Lewistown, call Jim Zubler, Executive Director at the DLI office, at 152 East Market St. Suite 109, phone (717) 248-9606, email jim@downtownlewistown.com.