The Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors has announced a $2,400 Placemaking Grant to the city of New Buffalo for a program intended to make the downtown area more vibrant. It says the city will use the funds to explore the viability of projecting artwork, moving images, and videos on to walls at night along the two block downtown streetscape. The idea is designed to bring light, movement, and excitement into the area year-round. The city’s Design Visual Impact Committee says an art and light show would have an economic impact by encouraging visitors to linger in the downtown area to shop, eat, and drink. The lights would be projected on to exterior walls starting with the intersection of Whittaker and Merchant streets, projecting from Brewster’s parking lot onto the Villager’s southeast wall. Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors Placemaking Grants are the organization’s way of helping to better communities. In the past, they have helped to pay for a dog park in Baroda, a park and playground area next to Milton Township Hall, and a Victorian style exterior post clock in downtown Watervliet.
