Interest in facade program sparks talks of additional funding

An attempt to entice downtown businesses to invest in their facades might require additional funding beyond the original $50,000 allocated.

And that’s because interest might exceed the initial funding supply.

City Planner David Hildebrand told the City of Warren Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday that initial interest was expressed in projects totaling over $48,000 of that initial allocation.

He said that applicants continue to work on the paperwork, which is “slowly trickling in here” and in the meantime, two additional businesses have expressed interest.

“(There) might be a possibility of adding some more money to the program if you have any interest in that,” Hildebrand told the RDA.

He further advised the RDA that he “will have a better idea” on the initial 10 applications at the February meeting when more of the paperwork will be in hand.

“(We) might need to look at $60,000 in the program instead of $50,000,” he said. “One way, I think it’s encouraging to see other businesses jumping on this bandwagon, so to speak.

“It’s encouraging. Businesses have been interested.”

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