Bringing new life to downtown Yarmouth
Earlier this year, there was a sign affixed to a business in downtown Yarmouth that said: “If you can’t get it here, it ain’t worth having.”
The problem was, you couldn’t get anything “here” anymore.
The windows and doors of the former souvenir shop – Mr. Leonard’s – were boarded up. The business, occupying two buildings at 258 and 260 Main Street, had closed a long time ago and in the years when there was no ferry service it didn’t make sense to restart that type of store.
But it also didn’t make sense for these buildings to never see life again. At least, that’s what Yarmouth businessman Richard LeBlanc thought. The Victory Realty owner got tired of looking out of his Main Street window, staring at buildings that desperately needed attention. And so he tapped into the Yarmouth façade program introduced years ago, and into his vision and creativity. He purchased the buildings and restored them. The renovations were so dramatic that people now stop and take photos of the buildings. One business even started advertising its new location here before the renovations were even complete.
LeBlanc spent hours online researching Victorian structures and noting architectural features of historic homes in Yarmouth. These buildings were going to stand out, he decided, with detail and colour. He delved into his collection of antique features, including corbels, finials and gable decorations. He repurposed materials, bought some from antique stores, had some custom-built and ordered others from suppliers. He hand-painted many pieces for the renovation.
This wasn’t the first building LeBlanc tackled. He took his own building at 255 Main St. – what is known as The Consulate Building – and restored the 1845-built building where his real estate business is located. The building also now houses a café his daughter started up called The Perky Owl.
Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood says this has been the whole goal of the Town of Yarmouth’s façade program — to bring buildings to life, to show their potential, to fill up empty storefronts and to instil pride in the downtown.
And so the town stepped in with a façade program, offering up to $5,000 in matching funds to businesses and property owners who wanted to invest in their properties. Many businesses have jumped on board. As of this past summer, 61 applications had been approved since the program was launched. This included 38 completed facades and 23 projects to be completed. The town had paid out grants totalling $250,227.08, while the total value of the improvements that business and property owners had carried out was $650,447.62.