Love The Ave en Flor adds dash to The Ave
If you’ve noticed some eye-popping facades on Acushnet Avenue lately, there’s a reason for the sudden burst of design. It’s called Love The Ave en Flor – and it’s a signature project by the Love The Ave Partnership.
So far, Monte Carlo Cafe (pictured above), La Raza Taquira (at left), Mexi-Fruit, Claribarbi Salon and Continental Meat Market (on Sawyer Street) have taken advantage of the program to add some floral distinction to their facades. $500 from MassDevelopment seeded the project at each location – and the rest was powered by imagination and creativity.
The project is designed to brighten the corridor, encourage foot traffic, and showcase the pride merchants take in their businesses and neighborhood.
As participating storefronts are featured on Love The Ave social media, the public will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite display, with the winning business receiving a grand prize.
So be sure to follow us on Facebook, and watch this space in the future.
It’s a party!
The Love The Ave Partnership wants to send off summer with a party – and you’re invited! Be sure to be on The Ave on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. Come shop and dine on North End’s commercial corridor and linger with friends and family one last summer evening on Acushnet Avenue, North End New Bedford.
From 5-8:00 p.m., DJ Rabia will be spinning at the Municipal Parking Lot across from St. Anthony of Padua Church. Food and merchandise vendors will also be on hand, and other family-friendly activities will take place there and in the Nye Street Pocket Park, home to the “Love Locks” sculpture by artist Keith Francis.
Did you know?
The new Bedford Fishing Heritage Center has a special exhibit on the walls of the basement space at the former Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, which also serves as a meeting place for the Community Economic Development Center (CEDC) and houses its Community Kitchen. Take a look the next time you visit!
Patio de Comida
Patio de Comida enjoyed a successful summer season at its new space across from the Community Economic Development Center (CEDC) at 235 N. Front Street, New Bedford. Three Saturday afternoons at the end of the month in June, July and August featured food, fun, music and community. Patio de Comida may be over until next year, but before we say ‘goodbye’ we thought we’d take a look back on a season of community and creativity with the photo set below, featuring Baile Del Convite, a Guatemalan dance troupe.
Meet Southcoast Places for People
Southcoast Places for People is a group that aligns nicely with Love The Ave. Both groups seek to create stronger neighborhoods from the bottom up through community engagement and the free exchange of ideas. Those ideas lead to plans and projects that strengthen the bonds between us.
Southcoast Places for People writes to Love The Ave that, “Most people sense that something is wrong with how we build our communities. Housing feels out of reach, downtowns struggle to thrive, and development often seems risky, disconnected, and reserved for only the biggest players… But it wasn’t always this way.
“Join us for an engaging introduction to incremental development—the traditional pattern that created America’s most beloved neighborhoods through small, locally driven projects built one step at a time.”
The initiative is called Neighborhood Builders for New Bedford, and the idea is to cultivate a strong, diverse group of local, small-scale developers. The first meeting will be held on September 23 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The event begins at 6pm. Doors will open at 5:30. This lecture is free and open to the public.
Southcoast Places for People notes, “Whether you’re interested in becoming a small-scale developer, creating a project in your own neighborhood, or are a local leader looking to encourage better growth in your community, this free public lecture will explore how our development systems changed after World War II and what practical alternatives exist today. You’ll discover how incremental development can lower risk, rebuild local ownership, and create more adaptable, resilient communities—one small project at a time.”
Sounds like a great way to Love The Ave! You can register for the event here. And you can follow them on Facebook here.
Small business meet-up
The Love The Ave Partnership continues to host monthly Small Business Meet-ups on The Ave for Acushnet Avenue and North End, New Bedford entrepreneurs. In August the meeting was held at La Raza Taquira, 1262 Acushnet Avenue (pictured). Contact Edsangela Pereira, LTA Event Coordinator – a.k.a. Angela – at e1pereira@outlook.com for information about upcoming business meetings!
CPC Grant workshop
New Bedford’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) will launch its FY27 Community Preservation Act grant funding cycle at an Application Technical Workshop on Thursday, September 10th at 6:00 p.m. at the New Bedford Free Public Library, 613 Pleasant Street 3rd floor meeting room.
The CPC strongly encourages anyone considering applying for funding in this cycle to attend.
The CPC has approved the FY27 CPA Plan & FY26 Annual Report. The Plan contains the FY27 Application which should be reviewed prior to your attendance at the workshop. At the workshop, the two-step application process will be reviewed and attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions.
Considering a historic resource project? In order to be considered for CPA funding, the building, structure, vessel, document, artifact, or real property must either be listed on the State Register of Historic Places or be significant in the history, archaeology, architecture, or culture of New Bedford as determined by the New Bedford Historical Commission. The determination must be made by the New Bedford Historical Commission and submitted with the Step II Project Application.
If you are considering a historic resource project, please email Anne Louro, Assistant Planning Director and Preservation Planner, at Anne.Louro@NewBedford-MA.gov, as soon as possible to determine if your project is listed in the State Register or needs to be submitted to the New Bedford Historical Commission for consideration.
Capitol in the spotlight
After The Final Curtain is a photographic documentation of the world’s greatest theaters. Matthew Lambros is the fellow behind the site, and recently he posted to its Facebook page that he had visited the Capitol Theatre on Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford.
As Love The Ave followers probably know, the CEDC is in the process of renovating the buildings and turning it into the Capitol Resilience Hub. Located at the intersection of Acushnet Avenue and Deane Street in New Bedford, it opened as a movie theater in 1920.
In recent years, it fell into disrepair. CEDC purchased the building in 2019 and has reimagined it into a multi-faceted space that will address today’s community needs: affordable housing; healthcare, legal, and financial services; workforce and ESOL programs.
So, it won’t look this way for long. But we’re glad Matthew got the ‘before’ picture and hope to see him again in New Bedford for the ‘after’ photo shoot.
Follow After the Final Curtain here.
