Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – The Montevallo Main Street Façade Grant Program announced its latest recipients in June.

All 10 applicants this year received approval for their proposed projects encompassing façade improvement and building restoration efforts at the following Main Street District businesses and churches: El Agave, Montevallo First Baptist Church, Team Lehman, The Strand, Save My Cell/It’s About Time, Anderson Eye Care, The Art Studio, Provenance Church, Strand Coffeehouse and Blue Phrog Gallery.

Montevallo Main Street is prepared to disburse more than $15,000 in grant funds and anticipates the project cost and investment in the Main Street District to exceed $44,000.

“We typically present this grant at a 50/50 match with a $5,000 cap; however, this year, we amended some of the grant request amounts so we could fund all applicants and have a little left over to fundraise so that we can offer another round of grants next year,” Montevallo Main Street Executive Director Courtney Bennett said. “In the past, this grant has been funded primarily by private citizen donations. This year, we combined some remaining allocated funds from past private donations with some programming funding provided by the city of Montevallo to offer these grants.”

Work on the current projects is slated to be complete in September.

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

The program has offered two previous rounds of façade grants in 2018 and 2019.

Grants awarded in 2018 totaled $15,271, with total improvements reaching $36,498.

Grants awarded in 2019 totaled $12,766, with about $29,336 in total improvements.

To date, 11 buildings have been improved, resulting in more than $65,000 worth of investment in the Main Street District.

To view the Façade Grant application, visit Cityofmontevallo.com/MontevalloMainStreet.