Towanda Borough seeking proposals from developers for the 400 block on Main Street

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: September 8, 2010

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TOWANDA - Towanda Borough has begun to advertise for a developer for part of the 400 block of Main Street, a project that would be partially funded with the $5 million in state grant money that has been earmarked for the redevelopment of the borough's downtown corridor.

Legal ads seeking proposals from interested developers have been placed in The Daily Review.

At the most recent meeting of the Towanda Borough Council, Towanda Borough Manager Tom Fairchild Jr. discussed the $5 million that was earmarked for Towanda's downtown corridor in the recently passed state budget and which would be provided through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP).

The $5 million would need to be matched dollar-for-dollar with funds from other sources, such as the federal government, the private sector, or the borough, Fairchild said.

"To get the $5 million, we would need a $10 million project" or a number of projects whose total cost is $10 million, he said.

The money is to be used for one or more job creating projects in the downtown, he said.

Fairchild said he believed the inclusion of the $5 million for Towanda in the state budget stems from a presentation that he and Central Bradford Progress Authority Executive Director Tony Ventello made to state officials 3 1/2 years ago, in which they expressed the need for state money to help re-develop the 400 block of Main Street, where several buildings were destroyed by fire.

"If done right, this would be a tremendous shot in the arm for the downtown," Fairchild said.

Towanda Borough Council member Keith Long noted that the 400 block should attract interest from developers because it is a block away from most of the county government offices and in a town that is in the center of the Marcellus Shale development.

The borough would need to submit a final application for the RACP money, but Fairchild has said it would be "very likely" that the state would approve the application.

Currently, there is an unpaved municipal parking lot in the 400 block, where the fire-damaged buildings once stood.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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