$75K being granted to Princess Anne for business revitalization

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – The town is set to get some funding for revitalization.

“Because there aren’t a lot of options in the area and you look around we have a pretty cool spot so people are coming out,” Dale Parker, Co-owner of Cropa Station said.

Dale Parker in business for a month experiencing great success, however, business in Princess Anne is expected to get a whole lot better with new efforts. “The town of Princess Anne received a 75,000 community legacy grant that will be used for downtown beautification and revitalization that sort of thing,” Carrie Samis, Main Street Manager said.

It comes from a Community Legacy Grant from the state of Maryland. Main Street Manager Carrie Samis says funding is continual as some upgrades are already in place. “So facade renovations have happened, we have new security cameras that are being put in place right now, new lighting that’s coming, benches that are coming, things like that,” Samis said.

Cropa Station Co-owner Troy Selby agrees that with more renovations outside, the community will be more likely to patronize the area. “We’re looking for people to be able to walk through town and for people to walk, they’d be more likely to want to come in here and other restaurants and other businesses we have here in town,” Selby said.

Selby says they are planning to set up more chairs outside of their restaurant, host more events, and have more participation from the community. The funding is setting Princess Anne’s businesses up to thrive but it’s the first step of many. “One grant doesn’t fix it all, there are infrastructure needs, there are business development needs, there are capital improvement needs,” Samis said.

Now the town would like your input about what you’d like to see done with this funding. On Wednesday, there will be a community meeting at Squeaky’s at the Washington Tavern from 5 to 7 PM. The Town of Princess Anne encourages all business owners, UMES students, and community members to come out and make their voices heard.

The school says that with these changes they believe students will be more likely to get involved with local businesses. The current building, Hawks Corner is another place off campus that’s geared to get students downtown. The building has actually already received some upgrades.

Walter Woods with UMES says they have seen an increase in the student population purchasing and shopping in the area. However, they want Princess Anne to be a destination, not a walkover, “One of the things we will start to see that we’re hoping is we will start to see a larger portion of our students coming into Princess Anne, their home, they’re starting their futures here and they’re really starting to interact with our businesses, and making their presence known,” Walter Woods, Coordinator for Outreach and Strategic Initiatives for UMES said.

UMES is gearing up for its 1st Thursday event on May 4th held at the Hawks Corner.