WAUPUN — The City of Waupun is receiving a $45,000 Vibrant Spaces grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to fund the transformation of an underused space into a food truck alley in downtown Waupun.
The Vibrant Spaces Grant program is designed to help cities and towns revitalize underused spaces to build community and attract future residents. Through this grant program, communities across the state of Wisconsin will be investing in their workforce attraction and small business development by creating inviting, walkable spaces in their downtowns, arterial districts, and economic centers.
“Investing in vibrant communities where people want to live, work, and raise families is critical to attracting and retaining workers in our state,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC, the state’s leading economic development organization. “These grants will help communities create new gathering places in thriving downtowns to draw in residents, visitors, new businesses and investments.”
To increase foot traffic and remedy gaps in restaurant availability in downtown Waupun, WEDC’s Vibrant Spaces Grant will fund the transformation of an underused alley into a dedicated space for food trucks and outdoor dining. When completed, the alley will have space for four food trucks and outdoor dining. Not only will the space provide visitors and downtown employees with a place to relax and enjoy local food, but also increase foot traffic to local businesses.
Work done in 2019 to create the City of Waupun’s streetscape plan provided the needed information for the grant application. Community feedback during that process found that there was a lack of public space to gather in the downtown and the plan envisioned activating city-owned green space in the 400 block of E Main Street for that purpose. According to Kathy Schlieve, city administrator and director of economic development, “the City of Waupun has invested in building physical assets such as bike trails, an aquatic center and ball diamonds to strengthen quality of life. Those things matter but are only possible if we have a vibrant economy. Today, there is noticeable investment happening by businesses across the community as the private and public sectors collaborate on these types of improvements with the long-term goal of attracting residents and visitors alike to Waupun. This award helps us continue to move forward together and we thank WEDC for their support of our vision.”
The Vibrant Spaces Grant program is an initiative within WEDC’s Community Development and Investment (CDI) grant program. Projects were evaluated based on their ability to create visible and pedestrian oriented public spaces that attract and accommodate multiple users and activities. Successful projects demonstrated that they would benefit the local district, nearby businesses and the community as a whole. Communities were required to match grant funds and begin construction this summer.
More information can be found online at: https://wedc.org/programs-and-resources/vibrant-spaces/
ABOUT THE WISCONSIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) leads economic development efforts for the state by advancing and maximizing opportunities in Wisconsin for businesses, communities and people to thrive in a globally competitive environment. Working with more than 600 regional and local partners, WEDC develops and delivers solutions representative of a highly responsive and coordinated economic development network. Visit wedc.org or follow WEDC on Twitter @WEDCNews to learn more.
ABOUT THE CITY OF WAUPUN
The City of Waupun is centrally located along the US 151 corridor within a one-hour drive of Madison, Milwaukee and the Fox Cities and is positioned to support economic growth with available industrial, residential and commercial properties for development. The community’s Downtown Business District is being revitalized with an ongoing commitment to historic preservation, programming to support business improvement, and expanding resources designed to help entrepreneurs.
