Borough Council Approves $2,000 for Park Stage

Bit by bit, the Hellertown Enhancement Project's Dimmick Park State Committee is cobbling together funding for the construction of a $200,000 concert stage in the park.

Another small victory for the stage committee was registered May 2, when HEP Chairwoman Susan Ackermann approached Hellertown Borough Council with a request for $2,000 necessary to secure a matching grant from the Main Street Lehigh Valley Foundation.

"When I looked over the funding announcement (from the foundation), HEP qualifies," Ackermann told council.

The maximum award that will be presented by the foundation is $2,000, she said. 

"The catch is, of course, it requires matching funds," she added.

Ackermann said she plans to approach four other groups that have partnered with the Hellertown Enhancement Project--including the Hellertown Lions and the Saucon Valley Rotary--to request that they also submit grant applications, which could help HEP procure additional funding.

She estimated that if all five of the grant applications are submitted and approved, and HEP receives the maximum amount of funding available with each one, when combined with matching funds the stage committee could net as much as $20,000 to put toward the project.

The deadline to submit grant applications to the foundation is May 31, she told council.

"We have also raised other funds," she added, noting that .

"I'm actively writing grants," Ackermann also said. "I've probably written now 12 of them."

Borough Manager Cathy Kichline told council that money to put toward matching the grant is available in the borough's capital projects fund.

Council member Gail Nolf then made a motion to approve the use of $2,000 from that fund for the stage, which was approved unanimously.