DCED Announces Funding For Elm Street Project In Lycoming County

HARRISBURG: On behalf of Governor Edward G. Rendell, Community and Economic Development Acting Deputy Secretary Jackie Parker today announced that Lycoming County has received a $250,000 grant through the New Communities-Elm Street Program.  The money will be used for residential revitalization efforts for the Historic District neighborhood just outside of downtown Williamsport.

“For 25 years, we have worked to rejuvenate downtown business districts across the Commonwealth through the Main Street Program,” Deputy Secretary Parker said. “To complement these efforts, Governor Rendell has implemented the Elm Street Program to improve the neighborhoods that are the ‘gateways’ to these commercial corridors.

“Lycoming County is one of the first recipients of this money because of its commitment to improving its community and the quality of life of its residents.  We believe that with proper planning, the Elm Street Program can dramatically impact residential areas as much as the Main Street Program has advanced downtowns.”

Lycoming County will use the Elm Street funds to enhance the historic area immediately adjacent to the western boundary of Williamsport's Central Business District.  This residential neighborhood is on the National Registry of Historic Places and is at a defining point in terms of future growth or possible decline.  The Elm Street project includes the purchase and installation of 64, period-style streetlights to be placed along West Fourth Street in the Historic District, as well as the construction of a portal entrance designed to provide a transition entrance between the central business district and the neighborhood.  This Elm Street project is a separate, but related part of the much larger Williamsport Streetscape project.

"This Elm Street residential reinvestment grant ties together our City's community revitalization and tourism development efforts,” Mayor Mary B. Wolf said.  “As our comprehensive Downtown revitalization vision moves forward, this project says thank you to the members of our community who have invested private funds in our Historic District."

Additionally, in a joint statement, County Commissioners Rebecca Burke, Dick Nassberg and Ernie Larson said, “Elm Street is an innovative, neighborhood revitalization program that enables us to assist the City in bridging the commercial core of Downtown Williamsport with its surrounding neighbors in the Historic district.  The County works best when it works in partnership with others and, in this case, we were fortunate to be able to link State resources with the City’s needs.  With an active Downtown Revitalization effort underway, including a significant Streetscape program, the City’s project has satisfied one of the most important criteria to qualify as an Elm Street site.”

The Elm Street Program focuses on the revitalization of residential neighborhoods that border downtown commercial districts.  With a current annual budget of $7 million, Elm Street will further enhance downtown areas as it improves the viability of the Commonwealth’s older neighborhoods. Elm Street is a vital component of the Governor’s economic-stimulus package, a set of programs that will leverage $2.3 billion in grants, loans, tax credits and guarantees over the next three years in order to generate an anticipated $5 billion in private-sector investment to help start and attract new businesses in Pennsylvania and help existing companies expand here.

For more information on the Elm Street Program and other Department of Community and Economic Development programs, visit www.newPA.com, or call 1-866-GO-NEWPA (1-866-466-3972).