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Businesses in Downtown Farmville have a little more time to apply for the new facade improvement grant. 

The Farmville Downtown Partnership (FDP) is taking applications through Tuesday, Jan. 16 for a facade grant. All applications will be reviewed by the Farmville Downtown Partnership Design Committee, chaired by Jimmy Johnson, and the winners are expected to be announced by the end of the month. 

This money comes from a September announcement made by Governor Youngkin to give over $2.9 million dollars in Small Business Development and Community Revitalization Grants. Part of this included the FDP which received a $50,000 grant award for establishing a Facade Improvement Grant (FIG) Program. 

This grant money is to be used strictly for the front of the building. Currently, the maximum for each grant available per project is $10,000 with a 2 to 1 ratio. This means that to get the $10,000 a match of $5,000 is required. According to Nancy Alexander, the executive director of FDP, they already have three requests and she expects three or four more businesses to apply before the deadline. 

“We anticipate a few large projects and mostly some small ones so it will be a combination of both,” said Alexander. “It’s hard to tell but we are looking at five to eight projects.” 

SETTING UP STANDARDS 

Part of this money already went to creating an architectural design booklet that will establish design standards and best practices for making improvements to historic buildings in Farmville’s historic business district. These are guidelines to help businesses preserve the history downtown while also maintaining a cohesive look. 

“The goal is to have these projects have significant visual changes to the buildings while keeping the fabric of historic downtown,” said Alexander. 

Applications and more information are available at farmvilledowntown.com/facadeprogram. Alexander is happy to answer any questions at 434-392-3060 or manager@farmvilledowntown.com.