The District of Houston has been successful in a grant application for $200,000 which now forms part of the financing package being assembled for below ground and above ground work on 10th Street.
The money, announced May 12, comes from the Northern Development Initiative Trust and is meant for above ground improvements on 10th from Poulton to Butler which makes up Phase 2 of the District’s long range plan to modernize its services and amenities in the downtown core.
Plans call for the removal of the existing sidewalk and light poles and replacing them with sidewalks that are just over six metres in width for better use, two crosswalks decorated to match those of earlier work on 9th St., 90 square metres of stained concrete walk, three new light poles and lighting for the two crosswalks.
There will also be new directional signs, planters and trees.
The $200,000 will be combined with $100,000 the District already has allocated for the work from a major provincial government grant received in 2019 and 2020 for capital projects.
Complete financing for the entire project, which includes underground water and sewer upgrades, does hinge on finding out if the District has been successful in another grant application, this time to a federal revitalization program for $675,000.
If successful, that money is to be combined with $204,300 from the District’s water reserve account, $84,500 from the District’s sewer reserve and $1.282 million from the above-mentioned major grant the District received in 2019 and 2020 from the provincial government.
That provincial grant package amounted to $6.56 million over 2019 and 2020 and has already been tapped to help pay for the completed work on 9th Street.
The impetus for a revitalized downtown grew out of the West Fraser’s closure of its Houston Forest Products sawmill in 2014, a move that affected the community’s workforce and its economic foundation.
Council is to consider next steps for the 10th St project at a future council meeting.
“The District of Houston is thrilled to receive the news that Northern Development Initiative Trust has committed $200,000 towards the next phase of our downtown revitalization. We are very grateful of the Trust’s continued support for our community and of a vibrant region,” a statement from the District indicated on May 13.
“We are presently determining project logistics and are awaiting outcomes of our Canada Community Revitalizations Fund [federal] grant application for [$675,000],” the statement continued.