“We’re enormously grateful to Lowe’s for including Bluff Street Village in its 100 Hometowns initiative. With Lowe’s help, we’re transforming long-vacant properties into a thriving community.”
Toledo’s Bluff Street Village receives $200,000 from Lowe’s through the retailer’s 100 Hometowns initiative.
Toledo’s Bluff Street, located in the city’s Monroe-Auburn section, sat nearly abandoned for many years. But today, the Bluff Street Village project is beginning to transform the once-deserted road into a flourishing neighborhood. And thanks to a grant from home-improvement retailer Lowe’s, Bluff Street Village is giving the area another boost.
—Pastor Larry Clark
Bluff Street Village is one of 100 community impact projects that are the cornerstone of 100 Hometowns, an initiative that Lowe’s created to celebrate its centennial anniversary. Awarded $200,000, Bluff Street organizers will use funds from the grant to purchase and renovate a nearby vacant building into a tool lending library. The library will loan area residents tools for maintaining or improving their homes, gardens, or yards.
The tool lending library will occupy a former gas station on the southeast corner of Monroe Street and Rosedale Avenue. The property backs up to Bluff Street Village, and its renovation will add to the neighborhood’s redevelopment.
Pastor Larry Clark, Bluff Street Village project director, says that tool lending libraries empower residents to reshape their communities. “When someone fixes up one house or yard,” explains Clark, “it can inspire additional improvement projects throughout a neighborhood. And that can lead to safer, more vibrant communities.”
The 100 Hometowns projects span urban, rural, and suburban communities and benefit various community members, from toddlers, teens, and seniors to veterans, small business owners, students, and more. Details describing the 100 Hometowns projects and their progress are on the 100 Hometowns landing page and at #100Hometowns on social media.
Lowe’s received more than 2,200 submissions to the 100 Hometowns program, which invited people across the country to nominate worthy projects in their hometowns. The program will complete 100 projects across 37 states, rebuilding areas reeling from natural disasters, repairing critical housing, restoring beloved community centers, and reviving green spaces.
On Tuesday, August 31, 2021, area volunteers teamed with Lowe’s Red Vest associates to perform paint and cleanup jobs on the site. Local news media was on hand to cover the event.
Reporter Chase Bachman of 13abc News (left) interviews John Badhorn, Lowe’s Project Captain.
