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By BARTON PERKINS | Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – Montevallo Main Street has announced a facade improvement and building restoration grant opportunity for existing commercial buildings in the Montevallo Main Street District.

“It is a matching grant program that we offer to our main street merchants to help them spruce up the exterior of their building,” said Julie Smitherman, facade grant chair.

Business and commercial property owners may apply for matching grants of 50 percent of their project cost ($5,000 maximum) to enhance the appearance of street-facing building exteriors. 

“The goal is a vibrant, visually appealing downtown area with historic structures that have been preserved or restored for business enhancement,” reads the grant application.

The grant has been offered to Montevallo business owners since 2018, resulting in 26 completed projects and $114,316.48 invested by business and property owners.

“We’ve had a couple of businesses that really did a lot of work to their facade in previous years,” Smitherman said. “We’ve given up to $5,000 maximum per business, and we’ve definitely had businesses that use that to go toward what they were doing but did a lot more work than the matching amount. They’ve got way above and beyond to further upgrade their business.”

Eligible applicants must meet the following requirements:

-Located within the Montevallo Main Street District Boundaries.

-Have 50% funding for the project available from other sources.

-Must be a dues-paying member of Montevallo Main Street in good standing at the time of application and commit to remaining so for three calendar years after completion of work.

-Business must be in good standing with the City of Montevallo.

Applicants may be property owners or business tenants with the written permission of the property’s owner.

New constructions, interior renovations and Removal of historically or architecturally significant features are ineligible for the grant.

To receive the facade grant, business owners must complete the application before Wednesday, Jan. 31. The application for the facade grant can be found at Cityofmontevallo.com/Assets/Files/MainStreet/Facade. Completed applications can be submitted in person to 541 Main Street or emailed to mainstreet@cityofmontevallo.com.