Court Street to get facelift in 2025

TIFFIN—The City of Tiffin has big plans to beautify downtown Tiffin. An upcoming project will streetscape Court Street, making the sidewalks compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. City engineer Matt Watson said the project has been in the works for quite some time now, but plans were only finalized recently as the city has been looking for funding. "The concept of a streetscaping project in Court street has been going on for multiple years now," Watson said. "It probably started after Cherry Alley was built, around 2018. It was generated through the (Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership) downtown design committee." A few different plans have been developed for the area, but the committee had to make decisions about what could be maintained properly in the coming years, what the city could afford to build and what the property owners on Court Street would support. The current plans have been 'shovel ready' for approximately two years with an estimated cost of $350,000- $400,000. Tiffin Mayor Lee Wilkinson said he spoke with Watson regarding a grant that recently became available and worked together to apply for $110,000, but was approved for $50,000. The project was later approved for two more grants, one from Meshech-Frost and another from the National Machinery Foundation with approximately $200,000 in total funding secured so far. Wilkinson said the rest of the funding will most likely come from the City of Tiffin's own capital improvements fund. As for a timeline, city council is currently in the process of reading legislation that will allow the city to open bids for the project, hopefully signing contracts by March and ambitions to have 100% completion by September 2025. During that time, the street will be closed to traffic but efforts will be made to open it again when not being worked on. Watson said the majority of the improvements made to Court Street include bringing it up to ADA compliance. "On the north side of Court Street where all the businesses are, the opposite side from the joint justice center, we are putting new curbs in along the edge of the road and decoratively stamped concrete with a red-brick look," he said. New decorative light posts will also be installed, with AEP already on board to remove the old posts. On the justice center side of the street, new sidewalks will be put in with decorative planters and the road will be repaved and painted. Watson also said the city would also be looking for more funding within the next few years to buy decorative archways to install on the street, with other possible plans including crosswalk signs that speak to help the blind or those with low-vision cross the street safely on foot. When asked why this project is needed, Wilkinson said beautification projects aren't necessarily needed, but do bring people to the area. "When we want to bring people into town, they are more attracted to come to towns that are aesthetically pleasing," Wilkinson said. "When you're driving through town and it's a nice looking town with nice amenities, then you're more likely to come back," later saying he hoped the project would also help bring in more private investments to continue to help Tiffin grow. The Court Street project is part of a larger plan to make Tiffin more accessible to residents with disabilities, estimating the city currently spends approximately $100,000 a year on ADA-compliant projects. "It's another step toward the continued progress of the revitalization of Downtown Tiffin," Watson said in a recent press release from the city.