Complimentary Painting Project Begins on Main Street in Ellicott City

Forty businesses will get facelifts this spring on Ellicott City's Main Street—for free—thanks to support from the community in an online contest last year.

Elected officials and merchants gathered in downtown Ellicott City near the B&O Railroad Museum Wednesday to celebrate the start of a monthlong project to spiff up the historic district, with free paint from Benjamin Moore.

Ellicott City was selected as one of 20 communities nationwide in the 2013 "Main Street Matters" program sponsored by Benjamin Moore paint, which invites communities to compete in an online contest for a free paint job.

Of the entrants in the contest, Ellicott City was the "most zealous and most enthusiastic" in its efforts to win, Benjamin Moore representative Jake Herron said in a gathering off Main Street Wednesday.

Councilwoman Courtney Watson and County Executive Ken Ulman joined Ellicott City business advocates in putting together a YouTube video that included a faux Brad Pitt to encourage citizens to vote for their community on the Benjamin Moore website.

In addition to Ellicott City, Benjamin Moore selected 19 other Main Street districts as winners in the revitalization contest: Attleboro, MA; Flint, MI; Greeley, CO; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Hawley, PA; Hilo, HI; Joplin, MO; Macon, GA; Martinez, CA; Nyack, NY; Penticton, British Columbia; Placerville, CA; Sanford, NC; Sea Bright, NJ; Sheboygan, WI; Stoufville, Ontario; Texarkana, USA; Westerly, RI; and Xenio, OH.

Painting in Ellicott City was supposed to begin last year but was pushed back to 2014 to allow for better climate conditions for the job.

The first coat of pain was applied Wednesday, and the project will last through the end of June, weather permitting, according to a statement from Benjamin Moore.

Related:

• Benjamin Moore Paint Job to Take Place Next Year
• Moore Paint Coming to Ellicott City's Main Street