Facade funding sought for downtown

Published 6:45 pm Friday, May 13, 2016

DAILY NEWS MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Downtown Washington has benefitted from the city��s façade-grant program, which provides money to help property owners and business owners improve the exteriors of their buildings.

DAILY NEWS
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Downtown Washington has benefitted from the city’s façade-grant program, which provides money to help property owners and business owners improve the exteriors of their buildings.

Real-estate agent Scott Campbell asked Washington’s City Council to continue funding the city’s façade-grant program.

Campbell’s plea came during the public hearing on the proposed city budget Monday. That proposed budget, for fiscal year 2016-2017, does not include funding for the program.

Campbell, who said he’s a beneficiary of the program, said the program, has proven to be extremely effective. “I walked around town for a couple of hours on Saturday and got 50 signatures on a petition from folks who have used the program, or building owners and shopkeepers who have used the program,” Campbell said.

The program has a significant financial impact in the downtown area considering the “small amount” of money allocated to the program in past years, he said.

“The city has had four and a half times that amount spent back into improvements,” Campbell said, urging the council to restore funding for the program to the proposed budget.

The council took no action on Campbell’s request, but could do so before it adopts the budget, which likely will occur May 23.

The proposed budget uses funds previously allocated for the program to help pay for a city employee who would serve as the city’s “downtown beautification person.” That employee would focus on keeping the downtown area clean and improve its appearance, in part to attract tourists.

The program, which began in fiscal year 1991-1992, awarded 143 grants totaling $256,660 through fiscal year 2007-2008, according to city records. The total cost of improvements made to the downtown properties during that period came to $1,164,784, according to city records. There were no grants awarded in fiscal year 2003-2004.
The program improved exteriors of buildings in downtown Washington. It provided funds to help replace awnings, replace windows, repoint bricks and make other aesthetic upgrades. At one time, the program paid for roof repairs and landscaping. Property owners/business owners applied for grants. Applications were reviewed, and grant recipients selected. Grant recipients were required to contribute money toward their projects. The city would pay up to $2,000 for a project.

Sometimes the program’s funds would be depleted and the city would provide more money.

 

 

 

About Mike Voss

Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.

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