Façade rehabilitation grants for downtown available again
Published 3:56 pm Friday, October 7, 2022
- File Photo City Planner and Director of Economic Development Logan Engle speaks to downtown business owners during Monday's public interest meeting last in November 2021.
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By Danielle Morin
Elizabethton Star
Some of Elizabethton’s local downtown businesses will be getting a facelift in the coming months.
Applications for this year’s Façade Rehabilitation Grant Program were made available on Monday, Oct. 3, during Elizabethton’s public information meeting at city hall. The City of Elizabethton announced the program’s return in September after the grant program was a success in 2021. Local shops including Riverside Taphouse, Tangles Hair Salon, and the Bonnie Kate Theater benefitted from the initiative.
The Department of Planning and Economic Development, headed by Logan Engle, said in a release that the program is designed to, “provide incentives to improve the exterior facades of structures that are located within the Main Street district of downtown Elizabethton.” Permitted renovations include a wide range of improvement projects including repainting, adding new awnings and business signs, brick repairs, and window and door replacements. The grants are applicable only to those downtown businesses who are located on Main Street with a ground floor accessible from the street.
Chosen businesses can receive a grant up to $4,000, awarded on a reimbursement basis after all renovations have been completed, an amount that has increased since last year’s grant program after a gracious and well-received funding increase by City Council.
According to the City of Elizabethton representatives, while the program helps local business owners, it also benefits Elizabethton’s entire economic growth. “The program seeks to encourage the improvement of downtown buildings, the improvement of commercial sales, and, as a result, local sales tax collection in downtown, and the attraction of new businesses and visitors to the downtown area,” a release about the program states.
Interested business owners are encouraged to apply for the grant program by Friday, Nov. 18. For more information on program stipulations, to see if your business is eligible, or to obtain an application, interested parties can contact the Department of Planning and Economic Development at 423-542-1503.
