Program to boost downtown revived

A Little Things Matter initiative that was cut out of the city’s plan to rejuvenate the downtown, has been reborn thanks to a restaurateur and local donors.

The idea was to encourage residents to make modest improvements to their properties by providing matching grants up to $1,000 to paint their front porch, for example. But it didn’t make the cut as the majority of council two weeks ago approved a $1-million incentive package that primarily rewards investors who create apartments above ground floor retail spaces and construct residential buildings.

The new program “is going to mimic very much” the Little Things Matter program, said Coun. Rino Bortolin, who approached downtown restaurateur Mark Boscariol about funding the program by asking customers at his Snackbar-B-Q and the Downtown Pizza Co. to give $1 when they pay for their meals.

“He pretty much said, ‘Yeah, it’s a great idea, let’s do it,’ ” Bortolin said. Three other donors stepped forward with a total of $2,500 to get the program off the ground.

These include MacDonald’s Automotive Supercentre with $1,000 and two anonymous donors who gave $500 and $1,000.

Other restaurants are also contemplating the idea, said Bortolin, who added that the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative has agreed to administrate the program.

“We’re already at $2,500. We hope that by next spring when it would start, we will have $4,000 to $5,000.”

Bortolin said the Little Things Matter program was an important piece of the puzzle needed for the downtown plan. Improving the residential neighbourhoods is essential to changing the downtown, he said. And having it run by the DWCC will make it work better because it won’t be bogged down by red tape. “This is the kind of stuff I love to see, people standing up to the plate to make a difference.”