Downtown Middletown Inc. recently awarded more than $25,000 to help business owners improve their store fronts and create “curb appeal,” according to Patrick Kay, executive director of the organization.
    The city has invested nearly $100,000 in grants during the past two years through the Downtown Middletown Facade Grant Program, and that money is projected to leverage around $1 million in building projects, officials said.
    Earlier this year, the group awarded grants to eight businesses, totalling more than $42,000.
    As Kay drives downtown and sees how the grants have been used, it’s made “a significant difference,” he said, in the overall appearance of the business community.
    “It creates more positive momentum,” he said.
    Critics of those revitalization efforts have mostly taken issue with the city spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to make it happen. Any revitalization, critics say, should be driven by the private sector and not the government.
    But city officials have maintained that public-private partnerships are necessary for development success in today’s economic environment.
    Bob McMullen, one of the owners of Denny Lumber, said he understands the role his business plays in Middletown’s image.
    As people drive into the city’s downtown, Denny Lumber, 1800 First Ave., may be the first business they see. Because of that, McMullen said he wanted to make a good impression and applied for financial assistance through the Facade Grant Program to help offset the cost of painting the outside of the building and adding murals.
    The estimated cost was $18,240, and the company was awarded $6,051 late last week when the notices were sent to seven Middletown businesses who qualified for the latest round of funding.
    Businesses receiving grants through the program are required to invest at least half the cost of the improvement project, and the grants are paid after the project is complete and paid for within a year. They must also start their facade improvements within three months of grant approval, according to Kay.

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2013 FACADE GRANTS

The Downtown Middletown Facade Grant Program has awarded more than a dozen grants in the two years since Downtown Middletown Inc. has taken over its management, requiring at least a 50 percent match.

Here is the latest round of grants for 2013:

Former Organizing for Action headquarters: Project valued: $18,311; Awarded: $8,697

Denny Lumber: Project valued: $18,240; Awarded: $6,051

Middletown Historical Society: Project valued: $10,000; Awarded: $3,160

Former Fraternal Eagles: Project valued: $7,658; Awarded: $3,637

Blue Goose Deuce: Project valued: $6,000; Awarded: $1,857

Cincinnati State: Project valued: $3,500; Awarded: $1,660

Midd-Town Cabinet: Project valued: $1,284 Awarded: $610

Source: Downtown Middletown Inc.