News Release: 11/8/2017
ELIZABETH CITY, NC (November 7, 2017) – The Albemarle Area Association of Realtors® (AAAR) has received a $5,000 Placemaking grant from the National Association of Realtors® to help make Downtown Elizabeth City a better place to live by transforming an unused space into vibrant public space for the community to gather and enjoy.
The grant is intended to help Realtor® Associations partner with others to plan, organize, implement and maintain Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper placemaking projects in their communities
The Albemarle Area Association of Realtors® will use the funds to transform an underutilized alleyway on Poindexter Street in downtown into a vibrant community space. The alley, which is currently only being used as a pedestrian pass-through and service alley, has a lot of historical and artsy character already, but the project will turn it into a dynamic, whimsical, creativity zone and community place for the area’s adult and youth community. The project is designed as a dynamic project with components and uses that can easily change, making it a place where people will want to come back to. It will be interactive in a way that allows both kids and adults to create art on site with chalk art on the ground, an “art garden” with flowers that can be drawn on, an outdoor gallery wall for hanging of murals and/or pop up art shows. The space will be open and accessible the majority of the time for use by the whole community. It can also be reserved for community events and activities. AAAR is partnering with Elizabeth City Downtown, Inc., the City of Elizabeth City, Arts of the Albemarle, metalworks artist Mike Boyce, and property owner Zack Robertson to bring this project to life.
“Realtors® live, work and volunteer in their communities and take immense pride in working to improve them,” said Coleen Curtis, Executive Officer of the Albemarle Area Association of Realtors®. “Placemaking can help foster healthier, more social and economically viable communities. It creates places where people feel a strong stake in their neighborhoods and are committed to making things better. This grant will allow us to address areas in our community that are in need of enhancement and revitalization and create a place where friends and neighbors can come together.”
Placemaking grants are awarded to local and state Realtor® associations to help them and their members create new public spaces and destinations in a community, like turning a parking spot into a people spot (parklet) or a vacant lot into a pocket park. Realtor® associations and their Realtor® members are actively engaged in the community and know the neighborhoods and the properties that would benefit most from these placemaking projects.
“As the Downtown Elizabeth City area becomes more attractive and welcoming, nearby properties may also increase in value,” says Curtis.
For more information on this Poindexter Street Alley Activation Project contact Coleen Curtis (AAAR) at 252-335-5933 or Deborah Malenfant (ECDI) at 252-338-4104. To find out more about National Association of Realtors® placemaking program visit, realtoractioncenter.org/Placemaking.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png){kind=logo}
