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BENNINGTON â The downtown and its businesses proved surprisingly resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the district seems poised for growth, Better Bennington Corporation board members told the Select Board.
The downtown improvement district organization presented an overview Monday of the difficult past year and of plans for the coming year, along with the annual BBC budget, which was approved unanimously by the board.
With new businesses appearing during the pandemic and prior plans persevering despite the health crisis, BBC board Vice President Michael Keane said, âIt really looks as if we are coming through this fairly whole.â
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BENNINGTON â Bennington is applying for a $1 million grant on behalf of two local housing projects for people in recovery from substance misuse.
The town Select Board, in a 6-1 vote on Monday, approved the grant application request from Shires Housing. The housing developer said it intends to use the funds to buy two Bennington homes and transform them into recovery housing, with $500,000 allotted for each project.
The specific properties to be developed were tied to the request for the Vermont Community Development Program grant. Squire House, located at 185 North St., will house up to nine women in recovery, according to a presentation by project proponents at the board meeting. The houseâs programming will be run by Mission City Church and the Vermont Foundation of Recovery, which manages other recovery housing in the state.
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BENNINGTON â Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Matt Harrington rolled out an announcement for the next Garlic Town, USA event during Mondayâs Select Board meeting.
Calling into the boardâs Zoom session, Harrington said the 2021 version of the annual event will be held in the downtown on Labor Day weekend, on Saturday, Sept. 4.
The Southwestern Vermont Chamber simultaneously launched a media release about the event and to its members. Garlic Town, USA is a joint effort of the Chamber in cooperating with the Better Bennington Corp. and the town.
The downtown format, which last year replaced the Southern Vermont Garlic & Herb Fest and its larger crowds amid state restrictions on gatherings because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will return with added features, Harrington said.