The State announced Thursday Monterey has been awarded an estimated $240,000 grant to improve the downtown area.
Monterey Mayor Alex Garcia said half of the grant will be distributed to downtown business owners to make facade improvements, while the other half will be used to replace 19 street lights from Poplar Street to Chestnut Avenue. The grant will cover 75 percent of the project cost, while Monterey will provide a 25 percent match. Garcia said the town is ecstatic to receive the grant.
“So anytime you have an opportunity to pay 25 percent for 100 percent of the work or the product, it’s a great opportunity,” Garcia said. “We have been improving downtown for a couple of years now, and this is just gonna take it one step further.”
Garcia said a majority of the buildings in Monterey’s downtown area are very old and need improvements. Garcia said the town will work with downtown business owners to see exactly what improvements will be made.
“Some of them can use a facelift,” Garcia said. “So it’s up to the building owners what they want to do, but they can do, you know, painting, windows, doors, anything to improve the facade of the building.”
Garcia said business owners will be responsible for matching 25 percent of their respective projects. The town’s aldermen had discussions when applying for the grant several months ago about whether the town could provide the matching funds to replace the street lights. Garcia said providing funds will not be an issue.
“We have three years to do this grant,” Garcia said. “And we should be able to provide the 25 percent, and we should be able to budget for that in next year’s budget.”
Garcia said a few years ago, at night, Monterey’s downtown was not very active. Garcia said now it’s hard to find a place to park.