Facade Grant Deadline for Colville Businesses is Friday

“This program is administered by the Colville Together Design Committee and aims to make downtown revitalization affordable, creative, and community driven,” Colville Together stated in a press release.

According to Colville Together Executive Director Rosemary Show, the Facade & Building Improvement Grant typically offers $5,000 maximum for one to two businesses. “Some years we only do one or two grants, other years we give out multiple,” said Shaw.

She continued that a total of 14 different businesses have had this grant in the past – the first being Constructive Fun & Toys, who obtained $3,000 to help them update their awning. Three businesses received the grant last year: the Alpine Theater, $1,500 for neon repair; Barman’s Building, $1,500 for lower level painting; and the Old Bank Building on the corner of Main St. and Aster Ave., $3,000 for fresh paint.

According to Shaw, Colville Together has been working hard to maintain not just the aesthetics of the downtown area, but also to consistently improve and repair the inner workings of businesses. Shaw said, “This grant is an amazing tool that Colville Together can utilize to make small, yet significant improvements to downtown, that make a large, overall impact. These grants also help us to keep our downtown buildings in good condition so that they are around for another 100 years.”

Shaw said building and business owners are eligible for the Facade & Building Improvement Grant and that any business/company within the area can apply for this grant. “The grant provides reimbursable awards for permanent building improvements within the Colville Together focus area, which includes 3^rd Avenue to Birch Avenue and Wynne Street to Oak Street,” the Colville Together press release stated.

Shaw said, “Colville Together established this grant to help the building/business owners in our district. Our district has been designated as the historic core of Colville. One of the primary goals of the Main Street effort is to preserve our historic downtowns.” Colville Together volunteers are also playing a major part in helping conserve the environment of Colville. Shaw said, “Colville Together makes a difference through the efforts of our volunteers who donate their time and energy to our work. We are all working to make downtown the best it can be, a place where the community and visitors want to be.”

According to Shaw, the grant is funded by the Washington State Main Street Tax Credit Incentive Program “which allows local businesses to support Colville Together while receiving a 75% credit on their B&O taxes the following year.” All of this has accumulated a total of $31,500 invested into downtown Colville, Shaw said.

For more information, contact Rosemary Shaw at info@colvilletogether.org.