A band performs during the 2024 Harmar Days on July 27 in the area located next to the old Harmar Post Office. The Historic Harmar Bridge Company has received a $10,000 grant to revitalize the festival area. (File photo)

The Historic Harmar Bridge Company has received a grant to help with revitalization of the Harmar Days Festival area.

The HHBC announced Tuesday that it received a $10,000 grant from the Marietta Community Foundation, according to a media release on the HHBC’s website.

“As many visitors may have noticed over the weekend, the Harmar Village festival space is in need of some serious attention and repairs,” the release said. “Today we are announcing that we are being given a gift that will afford us the opportunity to do just that.”

According to the release, the funds will give the HHBC the ability to create a safe, more adaptive and inclusive space, which will greatly improve the functionality of the Harmar Days Festival and will give the community a space to use for its own celebrations and gatherings.

“The funding is specifically to be used for architectural and design funding with American Structurepoint, which is the firm we are using for the (Harmar) Bridge design,” Harmar Days Festival Chair Allie Schultheis said.

She said the funding is for the design and planning work for improvements to what they call the multi-use park, which is the area where the beer garden, stage and vendors are every year for the festival.

The HHBC wants to put in new concrete because the current concrete in the festival area has rebar coming out in places and they had to lay gravel down before this year’s festival to cover those spots, Schultheis said.

She said they also want to put in a permanent stage, a permanent perimeter, restrooms, new electrical, improved shade and greenspace. She also said they want to put water in at the site as there is none there right now.

According to Schultheis, the HHBC is putting together a survey that they will send out to the public, including people who bought raffle tickets and attended the festival, to find out what they would like to see in the festival area.

She said American Structurepoint will also be doing a survey.

“We want to make sure that the community members have a say in what’s going there because they are the ones that are going to be using it most frequently,” Schultheis said about the reason for the surveys.

According to her, they are still at the beginning of the planning phase for the festival area improvements.

“We’re in the infancy stages of planning,” Schultheis said.

She said once they have drawings to work off of then they will be able to apply for grants for funds to cover the actual work on the festival area and right now they have no idea of the scope or limitations of the project yet.

According to an MCF media release about the grant, revitalizing the festival area is the first step towards a grander goal of connecting Marietta’s west side with the rest of the county, bridging communities and fostering economic development.

“This grant is an investment in our community’s future, marking the first step towards a larger goal,” MCF President and Chief Executive Officer Heather Allender said in the release. “The Harmar Days Festival area revitalization will create a space where traditions are celebrated and connections are strengthened, simultaneously paving the way for significant future funding and development. We look forward to seeing this grant’s positive impact on the area and eagerly anticipate the continued progress and partnerships arising from this initiative.”

To learn more about the Harmar Days Festival and the HHBC, visit https://www.saveharmarbridge.com/.