The Knoxville City Council approved the Community Development Block Grant Downtown Revitalization application to be submitted at their meeting Monday night.

The City is reapplying for a grant from Iowa Economic Development. The State’s contribution to the proposed project would be $650,000 and a significant local match is required. To meet the local requirement, city staff is proposing a $341,000 municipal contribution and a $272,000 building owner contribution. The combined local match is based upon typical cost sharing arrangements for these types of applications. Knoxville City Manger Heather Ussery says this project would make a significant impact to the downtown area.

“Overall it is eight downtown facades that would be redone. It’s $1.2 Million that includes funding through IEDA, the city’s local match requirement, and then from the property owners. Think of it as the Elite Dance building and that project, but it will be eight of those happening all at once. It’s a pretty big project and would make a huge impact on our downtown.”

Hear more about this project from Ussery on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.