Photo | Grant Welker
The Menkiti Group owns a series of buildings on or just off Main Street downtown but has yet to realize plans to redevelop them.
August 6, 2020
Downtown Worcester seeks art for vacant storefronts
Photo | Grant Welker
Long-vacant storefronts at 554 Main St. in downtown Worcester.
By Grant Welker
In normal times, a nascent business improvement district might look to hold street performances, neighborhood events or sidewalk shopping or dining.
The Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District has the unfortunate timing of ramping up operations during a sudden drastic drop in the economy, with the retail industry hit particularly hard. So, it's working to make some of its empty storefronts look nicer.
The district is putting out a call to artists interested in temporary installations in a row of vacant storefronts at 554 Main St. across from the Hanover Theatre. The goal, the district said, is to add vibrancy to the storefronts and engage the public in a planning process for the neighborhood underway by the district.
The business improvement district, which was approved by the Worcester City Council in 2018, covers a 78-acre area of downtown centered around the Worcester Common, from the Hanover Theatre to Mercantile Center, Saint Vincent Hospital and much of MCPHS University. It draws its funds from tax surcharges on 140 properties within the zone, with district leaders saying they've hoped to bring in roughly $950,000 a year through those payments.
The district hired an executive director, Evelyn Darling, in April 2019 and signed a contract with a firm to have ambassadors walking the neighborhood to clean up any trash or point people in the right direction.
The storefront art project will be the district's most visible endeavor. The district plans to install installations in four empty storefronts that will be displayed from August through November.
The site at 554 Main Street, owned by development firm The Menkiti Group of Washington, D.C., has a few of the dozens of vacant storefronts downtown, a challenge the city faced even before the coronavirus pandemic and recession hit.
Worcester is one of eight communities across Massachusetts chosen last year for a new state incentive program targeting empty storefronts. Businesses leasing in an empty storefront in certain districts are eligible for up to $10,000 in refundable state tax credits. The program is meant to help cities revitalize their downtown and commercial areas by encouraging new retail or other uses.
Worcester officials identified 44 vacant storefronts along Main Street downtown, as well as Chandler and Pleasant streets from downtown to Park Avenue.
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