Downtowns

to continue their community revitalization efforts,” Bill Fontana, Pennsylvania Downtown Center executive director said in the release. “Our member communities work tirelessly to improve their cities and towns, and we love having the opportunity to applaud them for their efforts.”

The awards came on the heels of Blank speaking earlier this month on the threat of the proposed expansion of Rolling Hills Landfill. She said the suggested expansion plan would threaten the organization’s current efforts to drive downtown revitalization.

A study, conducted by ClimeCo and paid for by Building a Better Boyertown, suggested that the projected truck traffic would cause vibrations that could damage the historic infrastructure.

Building a Better Boyertown also received $1 million in grants from BB&T last December, to support the downtown revitalization and the restoration of the rail yard. Boyertown Vision and Action Plan is allocating the funds.

In the first-ever Classic Towns People’s Choice Contest, Phoenixville “swept the votes with winners across the board,” for its downtown businesses, according to a press release.

The two-part contest concluded in May, and highlighted the best businesses and activities in each of 20 Classic Towns in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In round one of the contest, community members voted for their favorite local businesses in 14 categories. In round two, the category winners from each town vied for the top award.

While this was the first year for the People’s Choice Contest, Phoenixville has won similar awards in the past, according to Jessica Capistrant, president of the Phoenixville Chamber of Commerce.

“It was wonderful to see Phoenixville really rise to the top of the list,” Capistrant said, adding that it was great that the locals supported Phoenixville restaurants.

The 14 winning Phoenixville businesses in the Classic Towns Contest are:

Best Pizza: Vecchia Pizzeria

Best Bar/Brewery: Root Down Brewing Company

Best Ice Cream: Brown’s Cow

Best Bakery: Soltane Cafe

Best Diner: Your Mom’s Place

Best Coffee Shop: Steel City Coffeehouse

Best Salon: Charlotte Thomas Salon

Best Workout/Gym: Ocean Earth Wind Fire Yoga

Best Family Activity: First Friday

Best Art Gallery/Workshop: Diving Cat Studio Gallery

Best Clothing Shop: Lulu Boutique and Gifterie

Best Theatre: The Colonial Theatre Best Park: Reeves Park Best Romantic Date Spot: Black Lab Bistro

Among the area towns Phoenixville competed against were: Kennett Square, Lansdale, Lansdowne, Malvern, Manayunk, Media, Oxford, Roxborough and Souderton-Telford. Email business story ideas to business editor/ writer drovins@21stcenturymedia.com

SUBMITTED PHOTO Boyertown has been focused on town revitalization, and was rewarded for its progress with two Townie Awards presented to Building a Better Boyertown by the Pennsylvania Downtown Center.