After months of construction, and years of planning with city and community leaders, on June 23^rd, Main Street and Boulder Drive converted to two-way traffic. If you would like to learn more about the project, click here [FAQ's English/Spanish].

Although the conversion is complete, some work remains, and will be completed in the next month. Most notably, new street lights on Main Street and the completion of the work on Mill and Cushing Street. This work was delayed due to a water main replacement, but will be completed in the coming weeks.

Fitchburg Celebrated the completion of three new murals in downtown Fitchburg on June 26th and 27th with the community, artists, and the Community Mural Institute. The community engagement project was led by the Community Mural Institute, which partnered with the city, InTown Fitchburg.

Britt Ruhe and Greta McLain are the co-facilitators of CMI. Ruhe is the director of Common Wealth Murals and producer of the Fresh Paint Springfield mural festival, McLain is the founder and artistic director of GoodSpace Murals.

The program trained a dozen local artists, many of whom live or work in the city, in a new mural application technique called polytab, a lightweight yet durable material that artists paint on and then goes up like wallpaper. The artists also learned to engage with community groups to develop the designs and host community paint parties so the public could participate in the mural process.

“This project has surpassed our expectations of beautifying our public spaces and removing blight.” Said Mayor Stephen L. DiNatale,” We are thrilled by the outcome and proud of the talented artists we have in our community and region.”

Artists worked with three community groups to develop the designs, The First-mural at the east end of Boulder Drive was created with input by the YMCA’s Spartacus Youth Program by Jon Allen, and his team, Jennessa Burks, Keenan Cassidy, and Desiree Filkins. The second mural on the Putnam St. Parking Garage was created with input from the Minority Coalition, and is a tribute to longtime resident and community advocate, Adrian Ford. William L. Thompson, and Melissa Pandina created the mural with assistance from, Deborah Downing, and Petri Flint.  The third mural at 83 Boulder Drive (the back of the old Woolworth’s building), was created with input from Fitchburg’s Art Stewards, and was designed around the theme of “what is the power of art?” by Shara Osgood, with assistance from Monique Guthrie, Amber Haney and Maxwell Zalenski.

Check out this video recap: Mural Ribbon Cutting

The City of Fitchburg will continue its focus on downtown development and housing development with new assistance from Mass Housing Partnership’s Complete Neighborhoods Partnership.

This new state program is intended to support the creation of walkable neighborhoods near downtowns, transit, jobs and people’s daily needs.

Fitchburg will use MHP’s support to assess the development potential of vacant upper story commercial space in downtown with a focus of creating additional housing in an area that affords a walkable lifestyle close to public transit. Fitchburg was one of five applicants to be awarded this assistance across the commonwealth.

491 Main Street, at the corner of Main and Oliver Street, is one of three properties that is now available through a Request for Proposal by the City. These properties are being marketed by Pelletier Properties. Proposals are due August 2nd. You can find more information below:

Funding is still available to those who need assistance paying housing and utilities expenses due to the impacts of COVID-19. Making Opportunities Count, (MOC) in Fitchburg and The Spanish American Center in Leominster can assist with paying up to three months of back rent, mortgage or utilities for Fitchburg residents based on need. Funding for this program is provided by the Fitchburg Community Development & Planning Department from federal Community Development Block Grant funds specifically designated to respond to the pandemic. To apply for MOC’s program please call the Family Resource Center at 978-829-0163 or the Spanish American Center’s program at 978-534-3145.

The city is making progress on the update of the City of Fitchburg’s Open Space and Recreation Plan. A public information and input meeting was held in the Legislative Building on June 9th, and a focus group session a few weeks before that. Attendees were presented with an overview of the content and uses of Open Space and Recreation Plans and had the opportunity to provide feedback on different elements of the City’s plan. We also accepted comment through the OSRP community survey and input mapper through July 1st . Thank you to all who attended the meeting or completed the survey. We appreciate your thoughtful feedback. It will be used to help determine the goals and objectives of the new plan.

The Community Development Department will continue work with the OSRP Advisory Committee and our consultant, BSC Group, over the summer. A second community forum will be held in August.

A series of Zoning Ordinance changes were approved by the City Council at their June 22nd meeting. Among other things, those changes include the new “Intown Zoning District”. This district allows for by-right housing development of 6 units or less, and has no parking requirements for housing of 6 units or less. This is to encourage housing production in upper stories of Main Street buildings. 

You can find the new ordinance—which was signed by the Mayor on June 23rd—here

On June 22, 2022 MassDOT officially turned over the keys to Phase I of the Twin Cities Rail Trail to the Cities of Fitchburg and Leominster. Residents and visitors are now able to walk and bike the trail from 4^th Street in Fitchburg to Tremaine Street in Leominster.  Plans are in the works for an official ribbon cutting to formally acknowledge the opening of this great new amenity. Get out and check it out!

Twin Cities Rail Trail Facebook | Twin Cities Rail Trail Website

This month, the City was awarded two grants through the Commonwealth’s Shared Streets and Spaces program.

In partnership with DPW, CDP applied for and received a $199,000 grant to replace the sidewalks on Franklin Rd, between Mt. Elam and Reingold Elementary. This has long been a priority for Reingold Elementary Administrative staff. The sidewalks are asphalt and in extremely poor condition. This grant will be matched with a small amount of Chapter 90 funds. Finance Committee accepted this award at last week’s meeting, and it will now go in front of the full Council. This work will be overseen by DPW.

The City also received $47,000 grant to install flashing beacon crosswalks and solar-powered speed signs on Boutelle Street. The speeding on that street has long been a concern of Boutelle Street residents, and both past and present Ward 6 Councilors. This grant will be matched with CDBG dollars. We appreciate the dogged support of the residents of Boutelle Street for helping to make grant possible.

Downtown Property and Business Owners, please join Intown Fitchburg for this exciting workshop! The session will cover the fundamentals of a Four‐Point Approach as developed by the National Main Street Center. It is designed for new participants and stakeholders, staff, board members, volunteers of local commercial district revitalization organizations, elected officials, municipal staff, commercial property owners, merchants and anyone interested in revitalizing a downtown commercial district. At the end of the workshop, participants will understand how the comprehensive Main Street Approach can be applied in Fitchburg’s downtown commercial district.

Let us know you’re coming! Email your RSVP to: intownfitchburg@gmail.com

The Fitchburg Cultural Alliance has a new office and will be setting up Main Street Studios in downtown Fitchburg in the old Fidelity Bank Building (675 Main Street). This project was made possible through grants from MassDevelopment and the Community Development and Planning Department.

Jessie Olson | Executive Director | 978-956-6928

Fitchburg Cultural Alliance| Learn about arts and culture in North Central Mass

Are you a small business that needs help utilizing Quick Books? The North Central Massachusetts Development Corps is holding a 2-day seminar that could help!