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Deadline for second round of funding July 21

The second round of applications for a downtown façade improvement grant are officially available at Manchester City Hall.

Officially known as the Appalachian Regional Commission Downtown Improvement Grant, business owners in Manchester’s downtown Historic Zone are able to apply for federal funds to improve the appearance of their buildings.

Brittany Fiske, community development and zoning director, said the initial round of applications earlier this year only attracted a few applicants, and $60,000 in funds are still available for Manchester’s downtown business owners.

“Mike Bass is the only one that applied for that at Toliver’s and he got some new windows,” Fiske said. “There were only a few other applicants and some of them were pulled because they didn’t have all their stuff and things like that.”

In addition to the private aspect of the grant, it also provides funding for public improvements to the downtown area such as new dumpster enclosures that will be located behind City Hall and repairing the irrigation system on the square.

“We had put some bids out and nobody put bids on any of the public improvements, so we actually have to run those again,” Fiske said.

Sarah Elizabeth McLeod, historic preservationist with the South Central Tennessee Development District, said the grant is a 50/50 matching grant with a $10,000 project cap.

“The building owner would have to pay 100% up front and be reimbursed 50%, which is not a bad deal,” McLeod said. “You would spend a total of $10,000 but you would be reimbursed $5,000.

McLeod said those renting buildings in Manchester’s Historic Zone are also able to apply for the grant.

“If they rent the building, they are eligible for grant funds by including a letter of approval for the proposed improvements from the building owner,” she said. “In that letter you would have to tell who would be providing the money to fix the building up.”

Eligible improvements include restoration of the building to the original façade, replacing original architectural details, new windows, repairing brickwork and cleaning buildings or repainting buildings that have previously been painted.

“Things to remember with façade grants is you don’t want to harm the building, you want to respect the historic character of the building and the district,” McLeod said.

Repairs that are not covered by the federal grant funding include roof repairs, parking lot improvements, sidewalks, interior spaces and murals.

“It is purely rehabilitation of the front of your building,” McLeod said.

Business owners are asked to provide three quotes for any grant funded repairs they are applying for.

A five-year deed restriction will also be put on the building to prevent owners from selling the property and profiting from the grant funded improvements.

“It is a five-year deed restriction, and the percentage is 20% forgiven each year,” McLeod said.

Grant applications are available at Manchester City Hall, 200 W. Fort. St, and online at www.cityofmanchestertn.com.

The deadline to submit applications is July 21 at 4:30 p.m.

Those interested in applying for the grant are invited to attend a public meeting and orientation scheduled for 10 a.m., June 21 at Manchester City Hall.

Fiske said she is hoping more downtown businesses will take advantage of the opportunity to improve their properties and continue to improve Manchester’s historic downtown.

“Just in the last seven years that I have worked here on the square at City Hall I have noticed a lot of business here and think that any faced improvements or any kind of improvements will just help drive continuous upgrades for businesses and help promote small businesses in general,” she said.