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December 17, 2007
BRYAN WINS $400,000
GRANT
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| A
contingent of Bryan representatives attended
Thursday’s ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse
in Columbus where it was announced the city
will receive a $400,000 grant for downtown
revitalization. From left: Danielle
Steinhauser of Poggemeyer Design Group, who
completed Bryan’s Grant Application; Jim
Funderburg of Downtown Bryan, Inc.; Bryan
City Council member Keith Day; Bryan Area
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dan
Yahraus; Mayor Doug Johnson; and Downtown
Bryan, Inc. Program Manager Mandy Hanna.
(Photo courtesy of Don Allison –
Bryan Times) |
Columbus – Bryan community leaders took a
chance. They did the legwork and invested
$45,000 in plans and grant applications.
Thursday afternoon was the payoff.
During a ceremony at the Statehouse in
Columbus, Bryan received a $400,000
Community Development Block Grant Tier II
Downtown Revitalization Program award, to be
matched dollar for dollar by downtown
business owners to improve their buildings.
This competitive grant is downtown Bryan’s
second major financial boost in the last
three months, coming on the heels of a
$688,103 grant awarded to Bryan in September
through the Ohio Department of
Transportation. This ODOT funding is for the
second phase of the streetscape project
along Main, High, Lynn and Butler streets.
Accepting Thursday’s grant on behalf of the
city were Mayor Doug Johnson and Mandy
Hanna, Downtown Bryan, Inc. program manager.
“It’s an illustrious group of cities that
are on that list,” said Bill Graves of the
Ohio Department of Development, referring to
the grant recipients and Main Street Program
cities.
He commented on the successful cities’
ability to meet the stringent requirements
of the grant application. “I realize how
extremely difficult it is at the local level
to get things done, and to put things
together,” he said.
“It’s been a long process,” said Johnson,
who was all smiles, following the ceremony.
The mayor said the effort began 2 ½ years
ago, with a gathering of community leaders
to discuss the future of the downtown. And
he noted it’s a process that’s continuing.
“It’s just been a huge effort from
everyone,” Johnson said, crediting the
efforts of Hanna and Dan Yahraus, Bryan Area
Chamber of Commerce executive director.
“The downtown businesses donate so much to
the community,” said Hanna. “I’m glad
there’s something we can do to give back to
them.”
City officials, the Chamber, Downtown Bryan,
Inc. and the Bryan Area Foundation were
major players in laying the groundwork for
the grant award.
“It took a community to get this grant,”
Yahraus said, stressing the cooperation that
was needed to put together a successful
proposal. “Now, the work begins.”
That work involves getting bids for the
renovation projects. The matching money will
go toward improving buildings in the
downtown district, the area within Mulberry,
Cherry, Portland and Wilson streets, plus an
extended area at North Main and Cherry
Streets.
A total of 57 proposals were submitted by
Bryan businesses, and the Ohio Department of
Development estimates that 39 of those
proposals will be funded.
Grants are capped at $20,000 per building,
or storefront. Some businesses occupy
multiple storefronts and may receive
multiple grants.
“Business owners are responsible for paying
the costs of the work up front,” Hanna said.
“Then, they will be reimbursed 50 percent of
the cost.”
“There are at least five banking
establishments committed to a lending
program for the building owners so they can
afford to do the revitalization projects,”
she said.
Eligible improvements include heating,
ventilation, air-conditioning, roofs,
Americans With Disabilities Act access,
structural issues, plumbing, wiring, fire
code projects and parking lot and sidewalk
improvements. Improvements to building
facades also are eligible, including signs,
tuck-pointing, windows and doors.
The funds will be awarded to applicants on a
first-come, first-serve basis. “They are all
numbered in the way they were turned in, and
that’s how the money will be handed out,”
Hanna said.
Before any work on the projects begins,
Hanna said, the city is required to complete
a three-month environmental review that will
begin in January. “And work on the projects
can begin in April, after notification from
DBI,” she said.
Total estimated cost of the projects
contained in the applications is $3.7
million, far in excess of the grant and
matching funds available.
However, it was that excess that allowed the
city to receive the competitive grant. A
total of 12 cities were invited to apply for
the funds, but only six were awarded grants.
Danielle Steinhauser of Poggemeyer Design
Group, the firm employed to prepare Bryan’s
application, said Bryan’s ratio of 9.3 to 1
in proposed project costs to grant money
awarded is what made the city competitive.
The lowest ratio among the grants awarded
was 4 to 1, and the highest 12 to 1.
Among the other CDBG matching grant
recipients were Defiance and Van Wert, each
awarded $400,000. Defiance’s projects will
help 22 businesses, and include streetscape,
building, parking lot and sanitary sewer
improvements, and converting vacant land
into a city park. Van Wert plans building,
street, water line and parking lot
improvements, assisting 24 businesses. In
2004, the Village of Montpelier was awarded
the same grant.
Thursday’s CDBG grant awards were announced
in conjunction with the designation of five
Ohio cities as Ohio Main Street Program
communities, among them Defiance. Bryan was
previously designated a Main Street
community. The Main Street program helps
communities maintain, strengthen, and
revitalize their downtowns.
Steinhauser said Bryan has the option of
applying for additional funds in the future.
For example, she said, the city could seek
funds to bury downtown utility lines. “It’s
a competitive program,” she said. “The
process starts all over again.”
“You have a fantastic downtown,” she said,
“and the city’s been an excellent partner.”
By Don Allison
Bryan Times Senior Editor |
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