By Lisa Allmendinger
In a short Chelsea Downtown Development Authority meeting on Dec. 15, the board touched on a myriad of topics from updates on downtown projects – such as the replacement and refurbishment of the downtown benches and trash can replacements – to brief discussions of better coordination of downtown business hours and a program called Mainstreet America.
Six new benches have arrived in the city and three were placed by The Depot. A refurbishment program for the current benches is planned for 2023. In addition, the new trash cans were scheduled to arrive on Dec. 15 and are expected to be distributed around the downtown soon.
Also discussed was the potential of having banners throughout the downtown year-round and adding new ones that could, for instance, read Welcome to Chelsea.
In addition, at the January DDA meeting, it’s hoped that the DDA will hear a presentation on a National Program called Mainstreet America, a program of the National Main Street Center that helps communities revitalize older and historic commercial districts to build vibrant neighborhoods and thriving economies.
And the following month, another presentation could be planned about the program for business owners, the City Council, Planning Commission and other interested folks.
For more information about the program, please click here.
There was also a brief discussion of how there might be better coordination and consistency of downtown business hours for visitors. For instance, many businesses are closed on Mondays and also during special evening events when there are a lot of visitors downtown.
It was also announced that Chelsea will have two representatives on the Destination Ann Arbor board – Terris Ahrens, executive director of the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce and Lynae MacLellan, owner of Devil’s Haircut and The Crazy Diamond.
The next DDA meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19.
