Facades will be spruced up, residential units will be created and a new business will open thanks, in part, to grants handed out Friday by the City of Orillia.
More than $81,000 in Downtown Tomorrow Community Improvement Plan (DTCIP) grants was presented during a ceremony at Creative Nomad Studios in downtown Orillia.
Henneveld Holdings Inc. received $52,500 to complete work at 17 and 19 Mississaga St. W.
19 Mississaga St. W. is currently home to Diane’s Beauty Salon, but that will change. Jesse Henneveld and his partner, Emily Baker, have purchased the building. Baker, an award-winning hairstylist, will start her own salon there.
The DTCIP grant money will help Henneveld update two commercial units on the main floor. The second storey will be transformed from office space to two residential units.
The unit beside the salon will become Reiner’s, a store that specializes in various leather products that will be made in Orillia.
“That’s going to be amazing on that block,” Henneveld said, adding the existing units will be “completely gutted.”
Henneveld made a move to purchase the building without even knowing about the DTCIP program.
“I just thought, ‘I would really love to buy that and turn it into an investment property,’” he said.
He eventually learned about the grant opportunity, applied and got what he asked for.
“We’re excited,” he said. “We live here. We work here. I see potential here and I’m running with it.”
A historic building downtown will get a facelift thanks to the grant money.
Jeff Pitcher owns the building at 75 Mississaga St. E., home to Dr. Comics on the ground floor and artist studios upstairs. The building, at the corner of Peter Street, was constructed in 1895. He received $7,225 for facade improvements. The white exterior will be sandblasted and returned to its original brick look.
“I have a keen interest in older buildings and rehabilitating them to their former glory days,” he said. “I think, esthetically, it will help improve the downtown area.”
He expects that work to be finished in the spring of 2021.
Pitcher was also granted $14,437.24 to complete work next door at 73 Mississaga St. E. Two new commercial office spaces will be created, the floor on the second storey will be replaced and an HVAC system will be installed.
“It needs to be rehabilitated,” Pitcher said, noting the second floor has been vacant for about 25 years and there has been water damage.
The office spaces will be rented out. Pitcher wants to keep it affordable and expects the rent will be between $500 and $650 per month, all inclusive.
“With COVID, a lot of people may be working from home but might not be so productive working at home,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity right now.”
He hopes to have that work done by early January.
Pitcher described the DTCIP grants as “a great program.”
“It allows projects to get done that wouldn’t normally be feasible due to the costs,” he said.
Rounding out the grant recipients was My Moon Collective, a retail shop that opened in September at 169 Mississaga St. E. Owner Kelsey Beesley received $7,337.50 to go toward new signage, doors and windows, and to enhance accessibility for customers. Beesley was unable to attend the grants ceremony.
Friday’s presentation marked the last DTCIP grant intake of 2020.
“The Downtown Tomorrow grant program is one way in which the City of Orillia continues to support local business and property owners during this difficult time,” said Mayor Steve Clarke. “Over the past year, so much of what we know as normal has been disrupted or changed. Even in the face of COVID, we have seen some wonderful transformations in the core of the city, many of which were made possible because of the Downtown Tomorrow grant program. It is inspirational to see even more projects moving forward because of the grants announced out today.”
Despite the pandemic, "we’ve held a record number of pre-consultations for development in the downtown,” said Laura Thompson, the city’s senior manager of business development.
“These four projects are a great representation of the development that this program can incentivize, featuring everything from renovations to accommodate a new entrepreneur to the complete restoration of an existing building to house new apartments and commercial units. It’s been a great year for this program,” she said.
Friday was also the first time some got to see inside Creative Nomad Studios, the former BiWay building that sat vacant for years. Owner Anitta Hamming spoke about how the DTCIP program helped her make her dream a reality.
“Without this, I’m absolutely positive I would not have been able to do the engineering study that was required,” she said.
She also noted she will soon be the owner of the building.
More information about the DTCIP grant program can be found at orillia.ca/downtowncip or by calling the city’s business development and communications department at 705-325-4900.
