Great Place Project now accepting applications

Over the summer of 2017, most mornings and evenings Cook County Chamber Executive Director Jim Boyd could be seen pulling a cedar Langford canoe on a trailer from City Hall to a spot somewhere in the city, raffle tickets in hand.
 
The object was to raise money for the 2018 version of the Cook County Great Place Project. Boyd reports that it worked. After expenses for the canoe raffle, roughly $11,000 is available to fund Great Place grants for 2018.
 
The Great Place Project is a partnership between the Cook County Chamber and Sawtooth Mountain Clinic's Moving Matters program.
This is the fifth year that the Great Place Project has provided small grants to individuals, businesses and organizations to “develop outdoor projects that enhance the beauty and attraction of the outdoor built environment of Cook County.”

Boyd explains that for the clinic's Moving Matters team, the intention is to encourage healthy outdoor play and exercise. For the Chamber, the goal is creating a more pleasing place that draws visitors back, building a more pleasant environment for residents, and creating a sense of cohesive community across Cook County.

Past Great Place Project grants were used for projects ranging from a community paint-by-number mural for the side of Birchbark Books & Gifts, an outdoor ping-pong table for the Grand Marais library lawn, a bench for the Hedstrom Lumber Wildflower Sanctuary, a Little Free Library for the Schroeder Town Hall, and many others. Additional information on previous Great Place Projects can be found under the Great Place Project tab.

 For 2018, grants of up to $1,000 will be awarded, according to Boyd.

More information and the grant application can be found at cookcountychamber.org. Just click on the Great Place Project tab. Applications are also available in hard copy from the Chamber office in City Hall at 15 N. Broadway. Anyone with questions about the Great Place Project may call the Chamber office at 218-387-2079 or email [email protected]