Penticton to get new coat of paint from Benjamin Moore contest

PENTICTON – Main Street is going to get a new look through a social media-fueled paint contest.

A portion of Penticton will get covered in colour thanks to the thousands who voted online at Benjamin Moore 2013 Main Street Matters Program.

Nearly half a million votes as well as stories and videos on www.paintwhatmatters.com and www.paintwhatmatters.ca put 20 North American communities on the paint company's revitalization to-do list. Throughout the six-week voting period more than 130 communities participated.

The projects are due to begin this summer and continue through early 2014 and will be undertaken with the help of multiple partner organizations including Benjamin Moore's longtime partner Make It Right, its network of independent dealers, plus local municipalities, small businesses and local chambers of commerce.

All necessary paint, stain and supplies for façades, porches, railings, shutters and other exterior building trims will be provided, enough to cover a two-to-three block stretch. The areas to be painted will be determined jointly with town representatives and residents.

To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065 or tweet @shannonquesnel1