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Grants help storefront fixups photo by Bob Pennell Agency offers matching funds for businesses� renovations By Jessica Smith Putting a pretty face on storefronts just got a little easier for some downtown businesses owners. The Medford Urban Renewal Agency is giving up to $15,000 to businesses and organizations that want to spruce up their downtown dwellings and give them an historic look. The urban renewal agency offers matching grants to businesses willing to take on historic renovations to buildings that date back to the late 19th century. "The whole point is to start cleaning up and encouraging people" to make needed improvements, said Don Burt, MURA executive director. "We call this a carrot and it�s working well." The carrot comes in the form of a dollar-for-dollar matching grant � up to $15,000 � from a $100,000 pot of money set aside last spring by MURA for historic renovations. The grant may be applied only to facade improvements. "These kinds of programs are necessary to making the downtown area vibrant," said Brad Hicks, top executive of the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County. "So this is a good step." To date, eight individuals or groups have applied for the urban renewal grant. Those include the Rogue Valley Arts Association and Chip Wright, a karate instructor who owns the building at 427 E. Main St. "We�re a real small business and we�ve wanted to do some improvements to our building, but as a small business, cash flow is always tight," Wright said. "With the grant, we can make changes we maybe couldn�t have done by ourselves." The urban renewal grant would allow Wright to repaint his building, install awnings and fix up storefronts for half the $20,000 estimated cost. Likewise, the Rogue Valley Arts Association wants to step up its renovation plans for the building it owns at Eighth and Bartlett streets. "The fact that they have money to match what we�ve got is the key" to making the extra improvements, said Judy Barnes, executive director of the association. The association planned to paint its building. With a matching grant, the association can also repair windows and doors as well, Barnes said. The entire project would cost $30,000. The grants target a couple hundred buildings in Medford�s downtown historical district, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places a year ago. The national listing gives the owners of buildings in the district special tax breaks for certain renovations that retain a building�s historical character. To receive a MURA grant, property owners also must make improvements that are true to the building�s history, Burt said. "If they want to put in back-lit plastic awnings, we would not participate in that,�� Burt said. "And if they want to paint a building purple, we wouldn�t participate in that." Applicants must submit their renovation plans and cost estimates to MURA to gain approval for the grants. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA