CROWN POINT | The Redevelopment Commission has approved four facade grant applications.
The only one to cause any debate was from Tom Fleming for the improvements he had already completed at the multi-tenant building at 710-802 N. Main St. before submitting his application for the grant. Fleming told the commission he wasn't aware of the North Main Street facade grant program until the work was already done.
Councilwoman Carol Drasga said she was not in favor of granting money for projects that had not gotten the commission's prior approval. Chief of Staff Greg Falkowski said the grant program had been discussed for several months, and it was approved earlier this year after the city started getting inquiries about grants for improving businesses along North Main.
Falkowski and Mayor David Uran said the administration felt any project done in 2015 should be considered eligible for the grants because it was being discussed. City Attorney David Nicholls said the commission has the authority to interpret the program guidelines on a case-by-case basis, and Uran stressed the program gives the commission a lot of flexibility on what improvements are eligible for the reimbursements.
Fleming spent a total of $86,500 for repaving the parking lot of the center across from the Pizza Hut and to repaint all the buildings. The center has a total of 26,000 square feet of space, and Fleming said it's been tough competing with the Broadway corridor for tenants. One of the building's spaces has been vacant for three years, and two others spaces also are vacant, he said.
Falkowski recommended a grant for 30 percent of the painting cost, which was $11,500, but commission members briefly debated whether to allow extra for the parking lot improvements. Ultimately, the painting grant of $3,462 was approved with Drasga as the lone negative vote.
The commission also approved a $3,840 grant toward the cost of a new sign for Beauty and the Beach, which plans to open Dec. 3 in the former BMO Harris Bank building at 2012 N. Main; a $750 grant from the downtown facade program for a new sign for Mink and Est. 1964, which will open Dec. 12 at 120 S. Main, and $2,850 for repairs to and painting of the concrete parapet atop the Blue Pear building at 106 Clark St.