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Well-maintained, original windows last much longer than replacements & offer better energy efficiency. Experience the Heart of Kendallville is hosting a workshop to share the basics of vintage window operation and restoration to help encourage local property owners to preserve and protect the historic integrity of their structures. Window Restoration 101 Tuesday, June 14, 2022 6:00 - 8:00 PM Community Learning Center - Kendallville This workshop will be presented by Indiana Landmarks, an organization focused on saving the places that matter to Hoosiers—houses, barns, bridges, churches, schools, downtown districts, and vintage neighborhoods. By restoring and repurposing historic buildings, Indiana Landmarks reconnects people to heritage and revitalizes communities. Who should attend? Owners of historic properties, people interested in historic preservation and restoration, and the general public are invited to attend this free workshop. Registration is required, but free. Why should you attend? When you learn the different parts of a vintage window and how they operate, you can repair them to last for decades. It’s a simple, step-by-step process to replace broken sash cords, remove and replace broken glass and deteriorated window putty, and use epoxy for deteriorated wood repair. Beyond the obvious function of letting in sunlight and ventilation, windows are an important architectural element that give a property its distinctive character. In addition to maintaining the original style, preserving vintage windows retains the old growth lumber used to construct them — wood that is tight grained and longer lasting than new wood you can buy today.

Please join Brightpoint and Experience the Heart of Kendallville for a special, free workshop on May 11, 2022 to learn about available resources for your business, including small business development loans. The workshop will be held at the Community Learning Center at 401 E Diamond Street in Kendallville from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. The public is welcomed!

The Kendallville Redevelopment Commission has opened applications for a new PreservINg Main Street Matching Grant Program designed to enhance efforts to improve the aesthetic appearance and preservation of historic properties in Kendallville's downtown corridor. Grant awards of up to $50,000 per property may be awarded for façade improvements with up to 75% of costs to be reimbursed. Uses of funding are those deemed eligible under the PreservINg Main Street grant guidelines issued by the Office of Rural and Community Affairs (OCRA). A total of $300,000 has been set aside for this special program. The offer expires when all funds have been distributed, or on November 1, 2023, whichever comes first. In an opening paragraph of the new grant Guidelines, the RDC explains: "The PreservINg Main Street Matching Grant Program is designed to encourage both business and building owners to improve the aesthetic appearance of their historical Kendallville building façade in an effort to help stimulate commerce and enhance the overall business environment of the downtown's historic corridor. Grant requests are reviewed monthly by the Historic Preservation Commission for appropriateness before review by the RDC at their regularly scheduled meetings (generally the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 8:00am at City Hall). Those businesses requesting a grant are strongly encouraged to either attend the meeting or have a duly appointed representative available (in person, by phone, or via another method) to answer questions about the request that may impact the decision of the RDC. Attached herein are program guidelines for your review, as well as the application."

It's back! Experience the Heart of Kendallville is excited to announce the return of the Fairy, Gnome & Troll Festival to Main Street on Saturday, May 1 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. All ages will enjoy this magical, free event featuring live entertainment, activities for children of all ages, hands-on crafts and games, food and drinks, lots and lots of vendors, and more! Questions? Contact Kristen Johnson at (260) 318-0883 or kendallvillemainstreet@gmail.com.

Join us downtown for the official Ribbon Cutting and Celebration of Kendallville's new pocket park on Main Street! The City of Kendallville and Experience the Heart of Kendallville are bringing live music with Autumn Grey, plus food by Hang 10 Tropical Desserts and Street Tacos to the Pocket Park across from City Hall to celebrate with an official ribbon cutting on downtown's newest gathering place! The Ribbon Cutting and Celebration will take place on Saturday, April 30 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM at the park. Bring the family and explore and enjoy Main Street!

Indiana Humanities is hosting a 9-city film tour featuring six short documentary films about Indiana's waterways. The tour comes to Kendallville in April. These films, developed in conjunction with Indiana Humanities' environmental humanities theme, Unearthed, tell stories from across the state of Hoosiers and their diverse relationships with water. From the efforts to reintroduce the hellbender salamander, to the fading art of netmaking, the films explore issues of access and conservation, as well as the unique cultures that spring up around Indiana's waterways. The Kendallville screening will take place at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, April 20 at Strand Theatre, 221 S Main Street. Doors will open at 6:00 PM and screenings run from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The event is free and open to the public and will include a brief intermission and complimentary snacks and drinks. Beer from Metazoa Brewing will be available for those 21 years of age and older. Click the button below for tickets and for more information.

The public is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of the McCray Solar Power Generation Project. "This project has turned what was an environmental brownfield and visual eyesore into a green, beautiful site," explained Mayor W. SuzAnne Handshoe in an invitation to the community issued by the City of Kendallville. The new solar field, located at the former McCray Refrigeration plant, 205 W Wayne Street in downtown Kendallville, will not only provide clean, renewable energy to power the city's wastewater treatment plant, but also save taxpayers significant dollars for years to come, according to the announcement. "The City of Kendallville deeply appreciates that both the Local Development Corporation and Redevelopment Commission recognized this project for the tremendous opportunity it represented in changing the narrative of what economic development can truly be," continued Handshoe. The ribbon-cutting will take place on Wednesday, April 20 at 10:30 a.m. at the site. The public is invited. The announcement included the following agenda: Welcome by Mayor W. SuzAnne Handshoe Project overview by Eric Hesher, owner of Renewable Energy Systems Guest speaker Brian C. Rockensuess, Commissioner, Indiana Department of Environmental Management Guest speaker Sue Glick, State Senator District 13 Guest speaker David Abbott, Indiana District 82 Guest speaker Gary Gatman, Executive Director, Be Noble Inc. (LEDO) Guest speaker Brian Walter, Senior Pastor, South Milford Church of Christ Ribbon cutting

Hosler Realty, The Strand Theatre, Whatchamacakes, and The Pizza Forum are coming together for an Easter Egg Hunt on Main Street! Enjoy this free community event at Hosier Realty, 106 S Main Street, on Saturday, April 19 at 1:00 PM. Kids will be able to search throughout the building to find golden eggs with great prizes inside! This is a free event! For more information, contact Hosler Realty.

Experience the Heart of Kendallville is seeking the participation of all downtown Kendallville building owners in a brief survey. The information requested will help create an up-to-date inventory of assets to inform strategies related to downtown development opportunities and investments. Please take a moment to help us learn more about our inventory of downtown buildings. Respond to the survey by February 4. Direct any questions to Kristen Johnson, EHK Main Street manager. Thank you!

In yet another effort to help spur new business growth and the transformation of downtown Kendallville, the city's Redevelopment Commission announced the creation of the Merchant Marketing Assistance Program. Businesses in the downtown Main Street TIF District are eligible to apply for up to 75% in matching funds, up to a maximum of $500, to promote through print media, radio, digital media, or a combination of media promotions. A limitation of one grant per business per calendar year applies. An application form is available on the City of Kendallville website, Redevelopment Commission page.

The January 3, 2022, grant application deadline for downtown property owners to capitalize on funding of up to 85% of the costs of building facade improvements is less than one week away! This historic opportunity for Kendallville, named a PreservINg Main Street Pilot Community, to use $2 million awarded to transform downtown properties has already attracted nearly a dozen applicants. The program has also helped spur interest in new investments in downtown properties in Kendallville. One long-vacant building was recently purchased, and a grant application submitted to transform its facade. The City of Kendallville has reached out to property owners of buildings with blatant code violations in hopes they will apply for funding or be motivated to instead sell properties in need of investment to address repairs. Applications that have already been received represent less than 20% of downtown structures. Property owners whose projects are approved for funding, pending consultation and final reviews with professional engineers and architects, stand to receive 85% of project costs through the grant program. This means they must only commit to funding 15% of the costs of work, significantly less than the city's traditional 50/50 matching facade grant program. Some projects may be eligible for funding under both programs and Experience the Heart of Kendallville (EHK) recently learned that there is interest by local funders to assist property owners who may need "gap funding" as well in order to participate. EHK encourages anyone interested to apply before the deadline, even if some details are not yet known, so as not to miss out on the opportunity to explore fully all possible resources. Steps that will come after the January 3 deadline include an initial review of applications on January 6, followed by a review of projects with professional architects and engineers on January 12. These and other related Main Street meetings and events are posted on EHK's public web calendar and may be found by following the "Calendar" link on the EHK website.

Experience the Heart of Kendallville (EHK) has selected an architectural and engineering firm for the $2 million PreservINg Main Street grant project. A sub-committee appointed by EHK, with representation from the City of Kendallville, selected MartinRiley architects and engineers for the job. As a Pilot Community in the PreservINg Main Street initiative, Kendallville was required to procure an architect as a condition of funding. Multiple proposals were reviewed and MartinRiley rose to the top based on an impressive track record, in-house expertise (including the ability to utilize laser-scanning technologies), and a Kendallville-based project manager on staff. MartinRiley was founded in 1986 and has offices in Fort Wayne and Oshkosh, WI. Among the firm's past projects of note are an $8.3 million reuse project that transformed a historic former YMCA building in Evansville into a 62-unit apartment building. Similar projects in Union City, Huntington, and Delphi are also noted in the company's portfolio. Notable, stand-alone building projects staff architects have been involved in include those at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, Rialto Theater, Coca Cola Bottling Works, Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site, Arts United, and Waterloo Train Station. Among the services MartinRiley will provide for the PreservINg Main Street Pilot project are: Finalize a Historic Preservation Plan Provide technical and structural analysis of buildings in the target district Provide one-on-one consultations with property owners granted PreservINg Main Street funding Assist EHK in meeting rules and regulations Obtain necessary permits Assist in bid processes Develop design plans for projects funded Oversee construction work The firm will begin their work with EHK and Kendallville in January.