Creative solutions to draw people into the community!
The Town of Littleton ambitiously seeks opportunities to spur economic development in their community. One way that do that is by looking for new and creative ways to support businesses by drawing people into the downtown. The Town identified the opportunity to support artists, performers, and food producers by building out the underutilized basement floor of the Littleton Opera House and by upgrading sound and lighting equipment for the main performance area. NCIC assisted the Town in applying for and managing a $12,000 Community Development Block Grant which was used to hire a professional architectural firm to complete a programming analysis and preliminary engineering plans for the Cultural Arts Center. NCIC assisted with the grant writing and management of a $5,000 Eversource Grant, a $23,230 USDA Community Facilities Grant and a $20,000 Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund grant to support upgraded sound and lighting systems.
Today, preliminary engineering plans and cost estimates are in-hand which are being used to develop implementation grant applications in 2022. New sound and lighting equipment has been installed which will allow the Opera House to attract larger performers to the venue, drawing in larger crowds which will drive traffic to other local establishments like retailers and restaurants.