Montpelier Alive, Montpelier
“Our downtown businesses offer inspiration to each other and boost the collective morale. We can do this!” –Katie Trautz, Executive Director, Montpelier Alive
Montpelier Alive’s mission is to keep downtown Montpelier vibrant, support the businesses, and focus on beautification and tourism.
The coordination of volunteers started on Tuesday, July 11 when we got to work with the City of Montpelier Parks Department. Key players in this initiative include Parks Department Director Alec Ellsworth and the Montpelier Youth Conservation Corps (MYCC), who worked tirelessly coordinating downtown efforts for several weeks. Peter Walke, an experienced community member, helped coordinate the volunteer effort as well. We created a system to organize and dispatch volunteers as soon as the water started to recede. More than 120 businesses were impacted by the flood. In a funny way, this is what I signed on for as director because it really gets at the meaning of downtown revitalization. Over the course of four weeks, we had nearly 4,000 volunteers come to work. These people love Montpelier and want to help bring the city back to the beloved place it was and will be. We sent volunteers to more than 800 locations, both commercial and residential, in and around Montpelier. Most places had 5 to 8 feet of water and mud in the basement and up to 3 feet on the first floor. Some of the tasks included hauling mud and silt from buildings, separating hazardous waste, carrying damaged inventory to the curb, cleaning up interiors, washing windows, basically helping businesses and homes empty their spaces to begin the work of gutting and renovation. It took two full weeks to clean out all the businesses. Our volunteers also helped evaluate and document for insurance purposes everything that was being pulled and brought to the curb.
We also formed an open-air hub site, located in the empty lot between Shaw’s supermarket and The Drawing Board at the top of Main Street. We became a resource for the community with a pop-up food pantry with free meals and water, cleaning supplies, and a drop-off place for deliveries. I think we were a comforting presence and people appreciated what we provided.
The Capital City Farmers Market has kept going continuously. It moved from its normal State Street location up to the high-and-dry campus of Vermont College of Fine Arts. Local merchants who have inventory set up booths and sell their merchandise pop-up style. It’s been a huge success and generated a crucial revenue stream for these hard-hit businesses. About 10 to 15 merchants have shown up each Saturday.
On August 26, we held a Green Up Day, based on the May statewide event. Volunteers pitched in with the deeper clean of town and public spaces. It’s important to get the message out that we want visitors, Montpelier businesses will reopen, and to come support the places that are already up and running. We’re planning a grand reopening celebration in October in conjunction with the Vermont Tourism Department and the City of Montpelier. Our downtown businesses offer inspiration to each other and boost the collective morale. We can do this!
