Businesses in downtown Medicine Hat are able to get a $400 rebate from the CCDA to install lights in back alleys.--NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
The City Centre Development Agency is offering money to businesses to put up lights behind their shops.
The CCDA is offering up to $400 for businesses after they install lights in back alleys in an attempt to make downtown a safer place.
“The goal of this is to minimize the amount of vandalism as well as loitering,” said CCDA chair Jeremy Silver. “We want to push forward with a cleaner, safer downtown.
“With COVID-19 it has made it impossible to hold our major events, so this is a big focus for us right now.”
Silver says the CCDA consulted with downtown stakeholders and the Medicine Hat Police Service to come up with the initiative.
“We’re trying to light up all of the back alleys to make them friendlier for people,” said Silver. “It gets dark pretty early in the winter months and we want it to feel safer for people leaving work.”
The program has been fully funded for the CCDA up to $10,000. The agency estimates that alley lighting will cost $800 for businesses, meaning the program can fund half.
Two businesses have applied for the money and Silver says he is hoping to see more take advantage.
“We are making this public now, but we’ve already had to stakeholders work with us,” he said. “They jumped at this and I think this can be a real positive for our downtown.”
Silver says downtown is continuing its rebirth.
“Statistically, right now, downtown is more full than I’ve ever seen it,” he said. “There’s more businesses downtown than we’ve seen, and it’s doing better than a lot of areas in the city.
“Every dollar you spend downtown stays downtown – downtown is your friends, family and neighbours.”
Registration for the program is active and will be open until Dec. 31.
To learn more or to register, go to http://www.downtownmedicinehat.com
