Grant to give facelift

Grant to give facelift to downtown Middletown

By Michael D. Pitman

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN —

More than $650,000 will be spent to fix up downtown buildings thanks to a federal grant.

Eight businesses were awarded a share of $50,000 through the Facade Improvement Program being managed by Downtown Middletown Inc. The businesses are expected to use their share of the grant and add their own money for the improvements.

All projects had to meet the city’s historic commission approval, said Middletown Planning Director Marty Kohler. And once the properties are inspected and the bills are paid, he said the city will then reimburse the property owners.

“I think it’s a good thing,” he said of the grant. “The owners do need to be stake holders and feel invested in a project.”

The facade grant program is one tool to help remove the stigma of a struggling and antiquated downtown, said Downtown Middletown Inc. Director Patrick Kay.

“It takes people to that next level,” he said of the program. “It leverages more money downtown.”

Kay said his group did alter the city’s program slightly. The city required a match only if it awarded more than $5,000 for a project. Downtown Middletown Inc. required stakeholders to match any amount awarded. Building owners could have received up to a 50 percent match of the project cost.

And they must start the work within six months and complete it within 18 months, according to the program parameters.

The ultimate goal of this program is to make downtown Middletown look better and attract more businesses as the place to be, Kay said.

“Once you have more places downtown, it creates a destination down here,” he said.

Since the start of 2011, downtown has seen several new businesses open, including the Pendleton Art Center opened, Tufts of Hair, @ The Square and just this past Wednesday Cincinnati State Middletown.

Kay said the facade grant program is one tool to help remove the negative barrier of downtown Middletown’s antiquated look. But it takes time, he said.

Kohler said the program is funded with money the city still has from an Urban Development Action Grant, a defunct U.S. Housing and Urban Development program.

Applications for projects were ranked and selected based on “a clear and documented set of evaluative criteria,” according to the grant application.

Roland Lutz, owner of the Forest Hill Sports Plex and Country Club on Second Avenue, will improve the sports plex’s gutters, signage and roof. He’ll receive $7,800 for the estimated $16,000 project.

“The goal is as you pull down Second Avenue to see a refurbished, remodeled facility,” he said.

The exterior work will help with the tens of thousands of dollars he plans to invest improving the interior of the sports plex and country club.

These improvements will bring people downtown, Lutz said.

With the volume of traffic and the tournaments and membership, “there are a lot of people that will be coming in to these sports and recreation destinations. That’s important to make it as attractive as we can.”

Improvements will be made to at least one Main Street business. The Sorg Opera House, which was recently sold, will have its upper ballroom windows secured, said Chuck Miller, the lead partner in the ownership group that purchased the 19th-century building at 63 S. Main St.

The $3,000 project will be reimbursed $1,500 from the grant.

“One window is falling out of its bracket and I view that as a safety issue,” he said. “I want to get it back in and properly mounted.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or michael.pitman@coxinc.com.

Facade grant recipeints

The owners of the following properties have been granted city money for the Facade Improvement Program:

63 S. Main St.: $1,500 was awarded for a $3,000 project to sure up the ballroom windows at the Sorg Opera House.

68 S. Main St.: $5,000 was funded for a $19,500 project to improve the former Brown house at First Avenue and South Main Street.

1054 Central Ave.: $8,500 was awarded for the $17,000 project that will improve the front entrances to both businesses along Broad Street. They are at BeauVerre at the Square.

1500 Central Ave.: $1,700 was awarded for a $3,400 project to paint the exterior of the Chamber of Commerce Serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton.

791 Fourth Avenue: $7,800 was awarded for a $16,000 project to improve the exterior of the Forest Hills Sports Plex

1124/1126 Central Ave.: $5,000 was funded for the $89,000 project to enclose a gap in the rear of the Castell building.

18 N. Clinton: $15,000 was awarded for a $36,000 project to an entrance of a new restraunt, Outside the Line.

The most recent Board meeting of the Butler County Land Reutilization Corporation took place on August 23,2012. Doug Adkins, Community Revitalization Director, is the Vice Chairman of the land bank Board. The land bank has incorporated, adopted a Code of Regulations, and is currently reviewing insurance and legal epresentation options. The land bank has applied and has been awarded the full allocation of just under $2.7 million for the Ohio Attorney General’s Moving Ohio Forward demolition grant program.

Well, let’s see…In 2008 there was a façade grant program that provided $5,000 (forgivable at $1,000 per year) plus a $10,000 loan (at no interest, if memory serves).

And there was the façade grant program that was part of the exciting Crossroads 2000 program when the mall roof came off back in 2001.  I can’t remember the details of that giveaway of tax money.

I guess in the eyes of some, we should be accustomed to paying for the maintenance of the old buildings downtown for these owners of private property.  They are used to getting it every few years, so we are due once again.

We shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the definition of “façade” now includes:  roofs, gutters, signage, window repairs, enclosing a gap in the rear of a building, and unlisted improvements to a house!!! 

I wonder if our tax money will trickle on down South Main Street to help city officials with the maintenance on their mansions???  I also wonder what would happen if Spiderjohn, or MiddletownUSA asked for some of this grant money for repairs to their businesses, or if I would ask for some to improve the façade of my home??? 

Rhodes,

I am in complete agreement, with one addition:

I wouldn’t care so much that they keep trying the same thing over and over and failing over and over, IF they did it with their own money.  In that case I would be very supportive.

But they keep doing it with our money—worse yet, borrowed money that our children and grandchildren will have to repay—just so they can try to live out their fantasies.  They keep forcing us to be unwilling investors in their risky schemes, with no chance of recouping our investments.

Irisner -I doubt the money can be spent on anything other than the planned target. there are strings to Grant money, you all should know that by now.
    If you look at the records of the Downtown Fund you will find that this money is not really a dedicated fund at all since it  has been used for numerous different projects from paying salaries, taxes, loan payments, loans, utility bills and purchasing property. The only thing that seems to be dedicated is who decides which friend of city hall receives these funds
    I am very much NOT  a fan of the people Downtown right now, but even someone as flawed as Ms Judy doesn't deserve the non stop whining that goes on here.
    Are you saying that I do not have the right to question where and how City Hall spends this money? Let me remind you that in December 2011 we were told the City was going broke.
    let's be realistic and talk about what CAN be done to solve some of the cities problems. Let's not waste time bitching because money NOT available for any other purpose is not being spent wisely.
    But that is the money not being spent wisely is my complaint and it should be yours also.
    Case in point...in addition to my 30% staff cuts, i say we check into the possibility of  clearing whole neighborhoods out to make the land available for Residential Development, much like what was done for the Trinity Place Project 30 years ago.
    Well Irisner where will the City Hall come up with all the money needed to purchase a square block of housing and clear the land? I would guess that this plan is for the 2^nd Ward. The Trinity Place Project was built for high end rental and it failed! Now the City has approved another 260 unit high end rental complex at 1-75. We have been assured that these will NOT become Section 8 rentals but I wouldn’t bet my bank account in this deal either. Ya see the City has NO control over who will rent these apartments after they are built.
Until these blighted areas are gone, there is little hope for downtown Middletown.
    Where were all the city officials with their code enforcement letters over the years as they watched all the building downtown slowly fall into ruin?
So now you think that the taxpayers should foot the bill for the failure of City Hall once again…
Do ya remember the 1.2 million bond that paid for the demo of Swallens and the City Garage. It was going to save us $90,000 a year and that money would be used as payment on the bond…    ....I will let you do the research on how well this plan worked out for the taxpayers.