Raimondo calls for Main Street grant applications

MAIN STREET in East Greenwich was one of seven statewide community streetscape projects awarded a Main Street Rhode Island Streetscape Improvement Fund grant last year. The $32,400 was to be used to improve the sidewalk and trees in the town's commercial district. / PBN PHOTO/NICOLE DOTZENROD
MAIN STREET in East Greenwich was one of seven statewide community streetscape projects awarded a Main Street Rhode Island Streetscape Improvement Fund grant last year. The $32,400 was to be used to improve the sidewalk and trees in the town's commercial district. / PBN PHOTO/NICOLE DOTZENROD

PROVIDENCE – Applications for $1 million in Main Street Rhode Island Streetscape Improvement Fund grants are now being accepted by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and the R.I. Commerce Corp.

These grants can often be an incentive for businesses looking at Rhode Island, said Raimondo in a prepared statement on Friday.

“Rhode Island’s economy can’t get back on track if we don’t support our Main Streets, the foundations of our communities and a key source of economic growth,” she said.

Individual projects can receive up to $300,000 in funding, but must be able to match at least 30 percent of the total project cost. Eligible matching funds include expenditure on direct construction costs or soft costs, real estate donated to the project and federal or local grants.

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Established in fiscal year 2016, Main Street grants target barren commercial stretches by investing in enhanced sidewalks, new street furniture, new wayfinding signage, upgraded building facades or improved street lighting.

Eighteen applications seeking more than $3.4 million in funding were received last year – the inaugural year of the funding – and seven projects in six communities, Bristol, Central Falls, East Greenwich, Pawtucket, Providence and Woonsocket, were awarded a combined $999,400, just shy of the $1 million budgeted.

Applications for the 2017 round of funding, which can be downloaded from the Commerce website, are due on April 12.

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