What does Our Town Foundation do for our Community?
Our Town Foundation is a non-profit community revitalization organization for the Borough of Hamburg and beyond. Incorporated in 2002, we have been the driving force behind many community enriching projects and have been instrumental in receiving over $3,500,000 in grant funding for the betterment of the community. Here is a brief synopsis of the organization:
Programs we administer:
Downtown Main Street Revitalization Program to improve the
downtown business district and to assist the business owners Hamburg Area Arts Alliance and The Art and Craft Gallery of Hamburg to promote local visual artists and their work and to recognize our local performing artists
Heritage Towns & Tours Program to promote our regional assets, including natural recreational opportunities, history and heritage, and arts and culture
The Southgate Neighborhood Program to implement a revitalization program for the southern end of Hamburg
In addition, we own and operate the Hamburg Strand Theater
Community events we organize and host to benefit the downtown businesses, organizations, and the arts community, while providing entertainment and cultural opportunities to our residents and visitors:
Taste of Hamburg-er Festival Art of the Brew craft beer tasting event
Hamburg Hoopla Music Festival
Artdrenaline – a three-day art and sport camp for youth Community clean-up days
Downtown promotional activities
Performances and special events at the Hamburg Strand Theater
Art shows and classes
We promote the image and identity of the Hamburg area by:
Maintaining and updating the www.hamburgpa.org website and the Hamburg, PA Facebook pages.
Serving as the town’s Welcome & Information Center for visitors. We design, print, and distribute several brochures including the Historic Hamburg Visitor’s Guide and the Historic Architectural Walking Tour Guide
Placing ads in magazines and other media sources
Sending community event information to dozens of community calendars and other media sources for publication Creating and distributing a bi-weekly email newsletter to approximately 3,000 subscribers
We support local businesses by providing:
A complete business directory on hamburgpa.org
Free distribution of business brochures
Networking social events
Business owner workshops
Listing of available real estate and rentals Coordination of shop local campaigns and co-operative advertising opportunities
Business referrals
Ribbon Cutting events for new businesses
We help move the community forward by our role in:
Being a historic preservation advocate –received National Historic District designation
Organizing community visioning meetings
Creating action plans for implementing future projects Partnering with other organizations and working together to make the Hamburg area a place where people want to live, work, or recreate
The Foundation has received over $3,500,000 in grant funds to provide support for the following projects:
Improvements and renovations at The Hamburg Strand Theater to once again make it a thriving community hub Streetscape improvements in the downtown business district including new traffic light standards, sidewalks, benches, trash receptacles, holiday decorations, Hometown Heroes banners, and American flags.
A Riverfront Project to include riverfront trails, informational kiosks and a parking lot for trail users
A housing improvement project to assist low to moderate income homeowners with interior and exterior housing improvements Numerous art related programs and projects including a public arts initiative (4 large murals, sculpture)
Major improvements to three borough-owned parking lots Initiating a Native Wildlife Habitat Program and planting native gardens throughout the community
Building a community garden for residents to plant their own vegetables and flowers
Façade improvement program for non-profits including the Hamburg Public Library, Historical Society, Field House, Journey Café, and the VFW
Façade improvement project for property owners within the Main Street and Elm Street corridors which sparked total investment of over $500,000
Funding for historic district designation
Directional signs throughout the downtown
Receipt of 30 recycling bins to be used at community events
If you would like to learn more about Our Town Foundation and how you can volunteer to enrich and revitalize our community, or if you would like to join our team as an artist, resident, or business member, please stop by the office located at 320 State Street in downtown Hamburg or call 610-562-3106 for information.