There is more money on the way for renovations and repairs along Elmwood Avenue, cash from a state program and tax credits as part of the Elmwood Historic District.
Even in the depths of the Great Recession, Elmwood held up pretty well, with new businesses frequently starting up.
Now, the Elmwood Village Association has a half-million dollar state grant for renovation and repairs, mostly between Forest and Delavan. There are two sessions Wednesday about tax credits for commercial and residential property improvements.
Association Executive Director Carly Battin says the cash grant is being used for a variety of repair projects.
"They can be really any improvements to the home and business in alignment with some standards that we have. So, we've seen some roof replacements, we've seen some paintings of the building and different facade improvements, in addition to some interesting projects like public art, for example. On the corner of Jim's Steak Out, there's a new mural project on the building," Battin says.
Battin says there is still some money left.
"We've spent about $250,000 of the money and we have a lot more of that in queue. But we did discover that we have about $50,000 that's left over from some projects that came in under budget, so that's the process that we're doing right now. We're looking for two or three high-impact projects that are going to be able to spent that money before the end of the year," she says.
Some of the grant is going into conversion of unused space within Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church for loft apartments, allowed even though it's outside the general geographic area of the grant.
The church will be the site of the tax credit sessions at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
