Houghton receives downtown grants
Houghton receives downtown grants
By GARRETT NEESE, DMG Writer
HOUGHTON — Houghton’s grant applications for work in the downtown were among the best-received in the state.
Houghton will receive $200,000 in Downtown Facade Improvement Initiative funding for work on seven local buildings.
The City of Houghton also received $165,000 through the Signature Building Initiative, which it will use to purchase the former Superior Music Building on Shelden Ave.
Houghton was one of 18 cities to receive a Community Development Block Grant in a recent round of federal funding.
Both projects are being done in conjunction with the city’s downtown blueprint strategy, which stresses highlighting Houghton’s historic attributes.
The city is seeking a developer to buy the former Superior Music building for the appraisal price of $197,500 and renovate the site.
The tenant must finish all work by the end of 2007 and hold the site for at least five years.
The facade grant money will go towards $426,500 in work, with the rest coming from the businesses and the city’s revolving loan fund.
The seven sites receiving the facade improvement grants are:
• the Downtowner Lounge, 100 Shelden Ave.
• Coon’s Alignment & Repair, 401 Shelden Ave.
• H&R Block, 323 Shelden Ave.
• Scott Ala’s building, 317 Shelden Ave.
• the Bezotte Building, 506 Shelden Ave.
• Pizza Works (Briggs Building), 414 Shelden Ave.
Houghton’s facade grant was tied with the Village of Lake Odessa for the largest overall, while its $365,000 combined grants put it behind only the City of Corunna.
“We put together a really good proposal ... ” said Houghton City Manager Scott MacInnes.
Coon’s Alignment & Repair will do $10,000 in work. A proposal from U.P. Engineers & Architects included repainting, the installation of insulated metal overhead doors and the addition of awnings on the exterior.
“We’ll see what the contractor says and then go from there,” said owner Dan Coon.
Work on Ala’s building will include adding a new handicapped-accessible doorway on the side. He hopes to have work completed by September.
Ala said he is “really excited” about the grants.
“The downtown area, I feel that it has been and will continue to be a really viable place to attract people to the city,” he said. “As the facades get pushed back in time and get the look they had years ago, it just adds to the beauty of the city.”
Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com
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