A $5,000 facade grant reimbursement from the PA Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED) and Downtown Lewistown, Inc. (DLI) was awarded for upgrades to a multi-tenant building at 130 East Market Street/131 South Plaza Drive in the redevelopment area of downtown. Flanking the west side of the South Plaza Mall Area, the building now owned by Equity Trust Company fbo: Michael A. Buffington IRA houses Families United Network (FUN) in the East Market Street front with two new businesses, Morgan Chiropractic, and a self-serve location for Reedsville Creamery recently relocating to rehabilitated space along the Mall Area and South Plaza Drive elevation respectively.
The building received major upgrades to the existing overhead canopies, masonry cleaning, window painting, lighting improvements and security enhancements. In partnership with Lewistown Borough, DLI coordinated an inspection of the property outlining work to ensure code requirements were met. Following an assessment by the DLI Design Committee made up of community residents, contractor, Andrew Felmlee completed the work.
Michael Buffington, property manager, added that "Downtown Lewistown has been transforming over the years as consumer and business demands change. Buildings and properties are finding new uses requiring renovations and upgrades. These rehabilitations are not always easy and can be quite costly, but are vital to creating a vibrant downtown. No one person or organization can tackle every project. It takes everyone doing their part to contribute to the community's revitalization. We are grateful for DLI's support for our facade improvement projects. These upgrades help restore the beauty of the buildings in our community for everyone to see and enjoy thereby creating renewed interest and bringing new business to downtown."