When residents walk around Shelburne, they’re noticing some improvements.
Thanks to grants through the beautification and streetscaping program through the department of Municipal Affairs and Housing, along with funding from the town of Shelburne, many improvements have been made to the community.
“We took a walk around the waterfront tonight and saw many improvements that weren't there a few years ago,” wrote one resident on Facebook. “This gives the town a very inviting look and also boosted a little more pride in our little town.”
According to Shelburne’s chief administrative officer Darren Shupe, projects can be broken down into five sections: wayfinding signs, interpretive signs, King and Water Street beautification, banners and secret park fixtures and signage.
Many of these projects occurred in MacKay park, located on the corner of King and Water streets. When the work is complete, this park will see a new triangular wayfinding information centre with town map and community bulletin boards, two new matching benches, new garbage cans, a three-section planter, and four new rock gardens.
Dock Street and the visitor information centre will see two new benches in the greenspace.
“Small solar lights have already been added to some of the trees along Dock Street to enhance the walking environment at night,” Shupe wrote in a report to council.
Twenty new bracket sets were ordered for the power poles to hang the banners, as many of the previous brackets had been damaged during storms, explains Shupe. Local graphic designer Chris Abbot was hired to design new festival banners for the three entrances to town. Other new loyalist-themed engagement banners were also designed for the downtown area, he says.
Finally, five new large, horizontal banners were ordered for the town information booth to be used for advertising town events.
Final improvements in town have been made to Secret Park on George Street, which was named by decades of children attending the nearby Little People’s Place daycare centre. Shupe says the upgrades will provide an opportunity to enhance the public enjoyment of an underutilized, yet scenic town property located in the heart of the historic district.
So far, solar lighting was installed in the trees in the park to build atmosphere and help draw attention to the park at night. Area resident Mike Hartigan is designing a Secret Park gateway-style sign with a Mi’kmaq translation underneath. Two new benches were also installed.
When it came time to decide what projects the town should undertake, because of the short timeline for the funding application project items were based on a collection of staff and council input, says Shupe. For future applications it is hoped council will be able to bring in more community input.
“For the projects we have rolled out to date the community has demonstrated appreciation for the attention given to spruce up areas of town that have been overlooked,” says Shupe.
To date most of the projects have been completed, but keep an eye out for other improvements popping up in the town, he says.