The good news spread quickly at the end of last week. Email and social media was abuzz with notice that Boulder had been awarded a $20,000 Montana Main Street planning grant to develop a downtown master plan. In a letter to Boulder Mayor Gary Craft, Governor Steve Bullock said the Department of Commerce officials look forward to “working with the City of Boulder to successfully assist with projects that improve the economic, historic, and cultural vitality of Boulder’s downtown.”
“Being a Boulder downtown business owner, I’m very excited to see this happen,” hardware store owner and Jefferson County Commissioner Cory Kirsch told area citizens celebrating the news.
“Receiving this grant is a huge step towards our first priority of planning, upgrading and expand- ing our downtown businesses. I appreciate the JLDC and the city council for their work in preparing and submitting this grant application,” said Mayor Gary Craft.
“This grant is a monumental step toward achieving the number one priority of the community – to revitalize the Boulder downtown area,” said Drew Dawson, chair of the Boulder Transition Advisory Committee. “The project will help to gain community consensus on the look and feel of the downtown area…and set the stage for additional funding sources to make changes. Congratulations to the City of Boulder and Jefferson Local Development Corporation for making it happen”
According to the governor’s letter, the community will be contacted directly by Montana Main Street staff in the coming weeks with more information. The $20,000 will not be used directly for carrying out tangible projects, but will instead aid Boulder in creating a plan that outlines how the community wants to develop its commercial district, guiding future tangible projects.
“The development of a Downtown Master Plan will create the missing link needed to build a comprehensive vision for Main Street development, planning, tourism, and marketing,” said the grant application.
“Main Street is seeking the assistance of a professional consultant who can capture pictures and a visual to help move Main Street as a top tourist and business attraction,” it added.
The areas covered by the downtown master plan will include Main Street from the Town Pump on the north to the high school on the south. It will also include other areas designated as commercial such as the block surrounding the county courthouse.
Since 2015, when the state legislature passed a bill to close the Montana Developmental Center, community members have been working to envision a future without that major employer.
“Revitalizing takes time, resilience, tenacity, hard work and volunteerism,” said the grant application. Boulder has demonstrated that it is ready and willing to dedicate itself to that effort, said the application, pointing out that citizens have donated more than 21,000 volunteer hours to making the community’s future brighter.
“The timing is now, not only to be in compliance with the Main Street Program and State Laws, but to capture the momentum of the recent community sense of place, quality of life, and volunteerism,” the grant application said.
Creating the downtown master plan, said the application materials, is yet another step toward the future described in the first sentence of a community vision statement: “Boulder is a strong community commit- ted to planned growth that enhances new economic diversity while preserving our natural beauty, clean environment, and small-town friendly atmosphere.” The community vision statement was developed by the more than 100 participants in study circles that began nearly two years ago.
The Montana Main Street grant requires a one to five-match, meaning there must be at least one dollar contributed locally to each five dollars in the grant. The Jefferson Local Development Corporation Board agreed to provide the $4000 match. The implementation schedule for the project included in the application calls for completion of the downtown master plan by August 2018.
