Downtown Rutland

News

77ART Artist Residency: A miracle in Rutland
77ART Artist Residency: A miracle in Rutland

From the start, there has been incredible support from the Rutland community. Mark Foley Properties has sponsored the physical space for the residencies and housing, first at 77 Grove St., and now in the historic Ripley Opera House on Merchants Row in downtown Rutland. The residency has partnered with The MINT, a state-of -the-art communal workshop and makers-space. This gives the artists who inhabit the beehive of studios at the Opera House access to tools and machinery to expand their work.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandDowntown Rutland, 77Art, 77 Art Center, 77 Gallery, Artist Residency, Vermont Artist, Downtown Art, Downtown Rutland Art, Rutland Vermont, Rutland Artist Residency
Planners eye plaza improvements
Planners eye plaza improvements

“When you step off that train, where do you go?” Rutland Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Brennan Duffy asked on Monday. “Where is it logical you would leave and walk to.”

Duffy said the Rutland Regional Planning Commission was working on designs for improving the area around the station to make it more aesthetically pleasing, provide a “sense of arrival” and improve pedestrian safety.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandDowntown Rutland Development, Downtown Rutland, Amtrak, Vermont, Rutland Amtrak, Ethan Allen Express, Rutland Train Station, Rutland Plaza, Rutland Vermont
Rutland art garners recognition
Rutland art garners recognition

PlacemakingX’s Ethan Kent, along with a few other members of his organization, visited downtown as part of a national tour. Local officials showed them downtown murals, the sculpture trail, the Paramount Theatre, and 77 Arts.

“Placemaking is the process through which communities shape their shared public spaces,” he said. “We help highlight, connect and support placemaking leaders all over the world.”

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandDowntown Rutland, Downtown Rutland Mural, Downtown Rutland art, Downtown Rutland Sculpture, Placemaking, PlacemakingX, PlacemakingUS
Amtrak is back
Amtrak is back

At 7:30 a.m. on Monday, July 19, the James M. Jeffords Station in downtown Rutland was packed with passengers eager to board the Ethan Allen Express for the first time in 16 months. Many local officials and residents were there for the celebration. After remarks at the Rutland station they rode to Castleton for a second celebration.

“This is yet another example that Vermont is open,” Lyle Jepson, executive director of the area Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region, told the Rutland crowd.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandDowntown Rutland, Downtown Rutland Amtrak, Ethan Allen Express, Downtown Rutland Train, Rutland Vermont Train
Lip Sync Battle Returns to Paramount Theatre Stage
Lip Sync Battle Returns to Paramount Theatre Stage

Wonderfeet Kids' Museum, Rutland’s very own children’s museum located in the heart of Downtown, is excited to welcome local events back to The Paramount when their highly anticipated Lip Sync Battle returns to the stage Saturday, September 25.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandLip Sync Battle, Downtown Rutland, Wonderfeet Kids' Musuem, Wonderfeet Kids Museum, The Paramount Theatre, Danielle Monroe, Eric Mallette, Fundraiser, Downtown Rutland Fundraiser
Friday Night Live Concert Series Returns to Downtown Rutland
Friday Night Live Concert Series Returns to Downtown Rutland

After over a year of quiet streets hushed by the global pandemic, crowds will be able to gather downtown once again on Center Street for fun, food and entertainment. The popular Friday Night Live summer music series will return for two weekends in September, featuring Ryan Cabrera and Tyler Hilton on the 10th, and Into the Mystic: The Van Morrison Experience on the 24th.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandDowntown Rutland, Friday Night Live, Rutland Vermont, Ryan Cabrera, Pop 2000, Tyler Hilton, Into the Mystic, Van Morrision
Dos Eses Delicious Tamales opens in Downtown Rutland
Dos Eses Delicious Tamales opens in Downtown Rutland

An authentic Mexican restaurant opened in downtown Rutland City on Friday.

Ibjar Meneses and his wife, Betsabe Meneses, have been selling tamales out of the church they belong to for the last several months, but ever since the Rutland Board of Alderman approved a grant that supported his plan to open a brick-and-mortar business downtown, excitement on social media has ballooned.

Read More
Community News, Merchant NewsDowntown RutlandDowntown Rutland, Downtown Rutland Development, New Business, New Business Announcement, Downtown Rutland Restaurants, Downtown Restaurant, Rutland Restaurant, Mexican Food, Authentic Mexican, Dos Eses Delicious Tamales, Tamales, Mole, Rutland City, Rutland Vt, Rutland Vermont, Rutland Vermont Mexican
A new generation of business-owners stands ready to reopen downtown
A new generation of business-owners stands ready to reopen downtown

Ten years ago this week, Rebecca Buonadonna was one of the few people interested in opening a new store in downtown Rutland.

Downtown would fill up to where the ground floors had a better than 95% occupancy rate, then suddenly empty out again, partially because of the retirements of a lot of longer-running business owners. Buonadonna and others are emerging as a new generation of established downtown business-owners who say they are excited about the future as the state prepares to reopen from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandFruition FIneries, Rebecca Buonadonna, Camille's, James and Jadziah Derosia, Handcarved by Ernie, Ernie's, Steve Montanez, Vermont Truffle Co, Downtown Rutland, Downtown Rutland Businesses, Business Development
Ahead of Pride Month, Rutland Hangs Banners Celebrating Inclusion
Ahead of Pride Month, Rutland Hangs Banners Celebrating Inclusion

Ahead of June's LGBTQ+ Pride Month, community members in Rutland, Vermont, are sending a message that all are welcome in their city.

"I think it's going to make Rutland a better place," predicted Karly Haven of the nonprofit group Queer Connect Rutland, which is one of the grassroots organizations working to create a Pride celebration for June in Rutland.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandDowntown Rutland, Social Tinkering, Rutland Pride, Rutland Vermont, Downtown Rutland Vermont, Queer Connect
Knights of Columbus building gets a second chance
Knights of Columbus building gets a second chance

The former Knight of Columbus (KOC) building is showing the classic signs of remodeling, as it is one of the several properties purchased by Belarus-native and Guilford, Vermont, resident Pavek “Paul” Belegour, 50.

The tech mogul and cryptocurrency investor has been in the news a lot lately, after purchasing at least 3,100 acres and 10 buildings and businesses in Windham, Windsor and Rutland counties over the past two years. He is working on a “Viking Village” theme park in Guilford, and on May 4 he also took over the media operations of the Brattleboro Reformer, Bennington Banner and Manchester Journal.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandRutland VT, Downtown Rutland, Rutland Vermont, Knights of Columbus, Paul Belegour, Downtown Rutland Development
Rutland Calling: Public Art Guides a Day Trip in the Former Marble Town
Rutland Calling: Public Art Guides a Day Trip in the Former Marble Town

Just a few blocks west of that junction is a historic downtown with local shops and a view of not-so-distant mountains. A distinct and fascinating feature of the business district is the Rutland Sculpture Trail. The collection of eight stone sculptures (with more to come) recollects the history of the region through representational works of art. The Danby marble from which the sculptures are carved recalls a centuries-old local practice. The trail of art guided our visit.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandDowntown Rutland, Rutland Sculpture Trail, A Day in Downtown Rutland, Staytripper, Local Guide
Coalition rises in support of LGBTQ+, BIPOC communities
Coalition rises in support of LGBTQ+, BIPOC communities

Building off a desire to make the greater Rutland community hospitable to everyone, including the LGBTQ+ community, a new coalition and campaign is heralding the message that “All are welcome here.”

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandLGBT+, BIPOC, I love Rutland Vermont, Queer Connect, Social Tinkering, Awesome Graphics, Fundraiser, Project Vision, Downtown Rutland Partnership, I love Rutland, Rutland, Rutland Vt, Rutland County, Rutland VT
Sculpture to Trailblazing Black College President Dedicated in Vermont City
Sculpture to Trailblazing Black College President Dedicated in Vermont City

According to organizers of the Downtown Rutland Sculpture Trail, Freeman was among the very first Black students to go to college in Vermont. He went on to become a leading abolitionist and even the first Black man to lead a college in the United States as president — before the Civil War.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandRutland Sculpture Trail, Downtown Rutland Sculpture, Rutland Vermont, Downtown Rutland Vermont, Martin Henry Freeman
Hindman to take over DRP full time
Hindman to take over DRP full time

The DRP board of directors voted unanimously last week to give the position to Hindman, who was the DRP’s events coordinator before stepping in as interim director late last month after Steve Peters left the job to take over the Rutland Area Food Co-op. Board President Shannon Poole said they opted against advertising the position.

Read More
Community NewsDowntown RutlandDowntown Rutland, Downtown Rutland Partnership, Nikki Hindman, Executive Director