City gets $400,000 grant; Blunt gets progress report

Gov. Matt Blunt presented community leaders with a $400,000 grant to help pay for street and sidewalk improvements around the Pettis County Courthouse. The improvements also will result in 34 additional parking spaces.

Blunt made the announcement Tuesday afternoon on the courthouse lawn during a visit here to receive a report about the progress Sedalia has made in the year since it received its DREAM status. About 50 people attended the event.

Sedalia was among the 10 communities chosen in 2006 for the Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) Initiative. As part of the three-year program, Sedalia has access to state technical assistance, and DREAM projects receive priority through state programs for historic preservation, affordable housing, community services, business development and job creation.

Some $840,000 in real estate has transferred ownership, and Sedalia has received $3.1 million in housing, construction and renovation projects and other improvements since receiving its DREAM designation.

“I’m so pleased you all are making the most of your designation,” Blunt said.

The 10 DREAM communities have received $30 million in total through state assistance, which has spurred $70 million in private investments, Blunt said.

The $400,000 Community Development Block Grant will help pay for sidewalk and street improvements bordering the courthouse and allow for slanted parking. The sidewalks will be moved back along East Fourth and East Fifth streets and South Lamine Avenue to allow for the parking improvements.

Parking on Ohio Avenue was remain the same.

The county and city will also chip in on improvements, said Meg Liston, administrator of Sedalia Downtown Development Inc. Liston said the group was able to use as a local match $1 million for planned improvements at the Fox Theater property and an adjoining building.

David Furnell bought the properties within the past year, but has yet to announce his plans for the buildings.

Liston said she expects construction on the improvements around the courthouse to begin after a six-block streetscape project slated for spring 2008 is completed.

Other planned projects and scheduled improvements in downtown throughout the past year were also celebrated Tuesday afternoon. Mayor Bob Wasson said the initiative has created movement and focused government on downtown improvements. He said much planning has gone into the first year of the DREAM program, which is a necessary step that is not visible to the public.

“It’s kind of an exercise that has to be done,” Wasson said.

Liston highlighted some of the projects prompted by DREAM, including studies of properties and market analyses.

“It’s been a very busy 12 months,” Liston said.

Some of the projects include renovation of the Lincoln-Hubbard School into 39 affordable senior apartments; expansion and upgrade of the Liberty Center; donation of the Uptown Theater to SDDI for a Scott Joplin Museum; and purchase of the Commerce Building to be used for family apartments.

Liston also pointed as a sign of progress to the opening of office for an Xceligent, a real estate data market research company that brought with it up to 70 jobs.

“That’s what really brings life to a downtown district; people working and living here,” Liston said.

Blunt said he started the DREAM program after he realized that downtown development programs were under used by small and medium communities. The state programs were too complex to navigate.

“It’s all about leveling the playing field,” Blunt said.