Coatesville gets one of 11 Quick Impact Placebased grants

INDIANAPOLIS – Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs have awarded more than $52,000 to 11 communities and organizations, including the Town of Coatesville, for quality of place initiatives through the Quick Impact Placebased Grant.

“Making small, but meaningful changes to the quality of place in our state not only brings communities together, but lets visitors know that Indiana is a welcoming place,” Crouch said. “I am excited to see these grants being used in such innovative ways, and I look forward to visiting the final projects.”

This is the third year for the competitive matching grant program designed to fund placemaking and quality-of-life projects that spark community-wide conversations and creativity. This year, an educational component was added to the program, encouraging applicants to include youth involvement in the proposed project.

Awarded projects receive grant funds ranging from $2,500 to $5,000.

Coatesville Downtown Revitalization Inc. is receiving $5,000 on behalf of the Town of Coatesville.

Funding will renovate the exterior of one of the town’s blighted centerpiece buildings, a 1930s gas station. Although it will be a non-functional station, the storefront will be revitalized into public space with a throwback theme. The project is designed to transform an unusable space into a fun, community gathering spot and be the location for the town’s annual car show.

Also receiving grants were:

-- Batesville Main Street for the City of Batesville, $5,000 to commission a collaborative mural project to activate an infrequently used alley in the town square.

-- Brown County Enrichment for Teens/Kids on Wheels for Town of Nashville, $5,000 to assist the community in creating skateable art in the Deer Run Park’s new skate park.

-- Center City Development Corp. for City of Richmond, $5,000 to install and activate community games in downtown Elstro Plaza.

-- Columbus Parks and Recreation Department, City of Columbus, $5,000 to fund enhancements to Blackwell Park with upgrades to the trails and new park signage.

-- Discover Plymouth for the City of Plymouth, $3,500 to install a pollinator garden in the downtown district.

-- Tell City Regional Arts Association for the City of Tell City, $5,000 to create murals on the flood wall entrance to Sunset Park.

-- Tippecanoe Arts Federation for the City of Lafayette, $5,000 to create the Wabash Walls, a street art festival occurring in the Wabash Avenue neighborhood of Lafayette.

-- Town of Dillsboro, $4,370, to transform an asphalt space in the downtown to be used as a cultural, educational and community gathering place.

-- Wabash Marketplace, City of Wabash, $4,418, to beautify traffic control boxes by wrapping them in famous works of art in both Wabash and North Manchester. -- Warren County Community Foundation for the Town of Williamsport, $5,000 to reinvigorate a former skate park into a family-friendly recreational area.