Downtown business owners “ were facing unprecedented challenges of closures and restrictions on their businesses ,” he said , “ and what they needed from us – in providing downtown assistance and economic development help – was assistance navigating the networks of funding opportunities and different assistance options that were coming out of the federal government .”
Through the years , Ayres ’ planning and development team members have secured millions of dollars in grants and loans for clients and have extensive experience managing grants and implementing reuse projects . As experts in the realm of grant implementation , Ashby and team were able to serve as a critical bridge between the struggling small businesses and the various government assistance programs that came out in 2020 .
One such funding source was the Colorado Department of Transportation , which developed the Revitalizing Main Streets Program to support infrastructure projects providing open spaces for mobility , community activities , and economic development in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis . This funding opened the door to enhance parks , sidewalks , and outdoor spaces while creatively responding to COVID challenges .
Early measures taken in the Town of Windsor involved
setting up borrowed picnic tables to create sidewalk cafés on downtown streets , along with repurposed bike racks serving as special event barriers .
“ Some of that happened very abruptly , and what we were doing with the CDOT grant was trying to formalize some of those COVID adaptations and make them more permanent ,” added David Land , a landscape architect at Ayres who participated in a workshop last fall to develop creative solutions for outdoor winter dining . The workshop , held by the Colorado Restaurant Association , was organized around teams comprised of architects , engineers , interior designers , construction professionals , public health officials , representatives from local fire departments , building officials , and restaurateurs . Each of the groups was tasked with developing solutions for specific outdoor spaces ( such as rooftops , streets , and parks ). The group Land was part of developed a concept called the “ We-Shed ,” a simple , stick-built outdoor structure that could be erected in urban sidewalk spaces to expand restaurants ’ outdoor seating options after social distance restrictions limited seating capacity indoors .
Ayres went on to help the Windsor Downtown Development Authority ( DDA ) secure a $ 50,000 CDOT grant to establish more refined outdoor seating areas on the Town ’ s Main Street . As the weather turned colder , Ayres used some of the grant
20 | TRENDS Ingenuity , Integrity , and Intelligence .