Downtown Berlin will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. celebrating the newest addition to their downtown area— a community kiosk.
The downtown Berlin art kiosk will be in front of the Berlin Visitor’s Center, located at 14 South Main Street.
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Sarah Rayne, Government and Public Affairs Director for the Coastal Association of REALTORS, says this permanent downtown fixture was purchased via a $2,000 Placemaking micro-grant from the National Association of Realtors.
According to Rayne, the grant is intended to help the associations partner with others to plan, organize, implement and maintain placemaking activities in their communities. Rayne worked along side Berlin’s Economic & Community Development Director, Ivy Wells, to put the kiosk into action.
“It was Ivy Wells’ idea, she was had experience with a similar project in her last job,” Rayne said. “We’ll have a chalkboard and each month we will put a different question on the board like ‘What is your definition of a community?’ Residents of Berlin will write their answers and hopefully it will pull people into the visitors center.”
Rayne says the goal is to get people to acknowledge Berlin’s amenities.
“Placemaking is about creating a gathering space with unused space,” Rayne said. “People will want to come check it out and the town will promote it.”
During Friday afternoon’s event, Mayor Gee Williams will be in attendance, along with the town council and a representative from Mary Beth Carozza.
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