Main Street Delaware Honors Area Businesses

Main Street Delaware honored local businesses during Design Reward ceremony on Tuesday.

The brick plaza with the fountain and fireplace gracing downtown Delaware’s busiest intersection earned one of several Design Awards presented today by Main Street Delaware Inc.

Developer Scott Blackwell received the award for improvements to the southwest corner of Sandusky and William streets. The new plaza sits in the shadows of two key downtown buildings Blackwell purchased, the former Brown Jug Restaurant, now Hoggy’s, and the former Bianchi Grill. The latter is undergoing a major renovation adding housing to long-underused upper floors and a modern restaurant space on ground level.

“This is the kind of privately funded downtown redevelopment project that many towns can only dream about,” said Main Street Executive Director Frances Hamilton.

Also receiving Main Street Design Awards were:

• The City of Delaware, for the City Justice Center addition at 70 N. Union St. The addition complements the existing building and the rest of downtown, and Main Street appreciates retaining the court and police employees in the downtown.
• City of Delaware Chief Building Official Jerry Warner, for his accessibility and helpfulness on downtown building renovation and construction projects. Building code regulators can delay and inhibit building restoration projects, but that has not been the case in Downtown Delaware under Warner’s watch.
• The 1808 American Bistro, 29 E. Winter St., for sidewalk beautification for its lavish display of foliage in exterior planters during warm weather.
• BBK Partners Inc., for the exterior paint scheme applied to 38 S. Sandusky St., the building housing Ohio Wesleyan University’s Dance Studio.
• The Sarah Moore Home, for its four-story addition at Union and Winter streets. At a time when most communities are losing traditional buildings that toe downtown sidewalks, the Sarah Moore Home has added a beautiful one in the heart of our downtown. The addition also adds more employees and visitors to help keep downtown a busy place.
• The Delaware General Health District, for its renovation of the former Red Cross building at 5 W. Winter St. and other contributions to downtown. As with the City and the Sarah Moore Home, Main Street wanted to recognize the Health District for improving buildings and keeping its operations and employees downtown.
• Denise Dunlap, owner of Nova Restaurant, 5 N. Sandusky St., for the public art adorning the front of the business. The two large paintings of famous bluesmen B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughn overlook the restaurant’s vibrant sidewalk patio.
• Thomas Slayton, owner of Atomic Advertising (www.atomicu235.com), for the Branding Project for Main Street Delaware Inc. Slayton – who operates out of a third-floor loft office at 2 W. Winter St. – contributed design and consulting work worth about $7,000 to the downtown organization last year.

The Design Awards ceremony and Main Street Delaware annual meeting took place in the Strand Theater with numerous downtown business persons, property owners, residents, and patrons in attendance. They heard a farewell from outgoing Main Street Delaware board President Donna Meyer, who has served six years on the board and two as president. Joe Diamond will take over soon as Main Street President for 2010.

Also recognized at the event for supporting Main Street and Historic Downtown Delaware were:

• John Wallace of Delaware for serving as Santa Claus in downtown Christmas festivities.
• Hiram Masonic Lodge of Delaware for generously supporting downtown Christmas activities in recent years.
• Corner Framing and Gallery owner Linda Shearer for serving as Main Street Farmers’ Market manager.
• Dwayne Gardner of Delaware for serving as Farmers’ Market assistant manager.
• The Delaware Hayes High School Student Council, for setting up more than 800 luminaries for the December First Friday celebration the last two years.
• The Circle K student organization at Ohio Wesleyan University, for cleaning up litter in downtown parking lots and volunteering at The Strand.

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