Thursday, April 11, 2024–11:40 a.m.

-David Crowder, WRGA News-

The Rome Downtown Development Authority has approved three façade grants, but one of those is contingent on attorney review.

Rome City Commissioner Bill Collins has purchased the former Wright building at 254 North Fifth Avenue and has plans to renovate it.

“He closed on it back in December,” said Rome DDA Director Aundi Lesley. “He has plans for redoing the entire façade. He plans on doing three offices and a conference room upstairs with retail on the bottom.”

According to Lesley, there are no rules against elected officials applying for the grants, still, the board wanted to make sure there are no issues. The board did agree it was a worthwhile project and approved the grant for $2,500, pending advice from the city attorney.

The DDA also approved a $5,000 façade grant for the Historic DeSoto Theatre.

“As you will recall, they did apply for the IMPACT grant, but we felt it was more fitting for the façade grant and they could get some more funds from us,” Lesley said. “They are repairing and repainting the façade. They will also be reroofing and repainting the marquee. That part of the façade has not been touched since 2008. They are applying and are hopefully going to get another grant from the state.”

The total cost of the project is around $20,000.

The third façade grant was awarded to Harvest Moon café at 234 Broad Street. According to Lesley, the work is already underway.

“There is a shed essentially on top of the roof that somebody installed, who knows how long ago, and it’s rotting off,” she said. They were getting to the point where they were afraid it was going to fall. So, it was slightly becoming a bit of a safety issue. They’re removing the shed, repointing the brick and then they will, at some point, go back and repair the actual roof. What the design committee agreed upon was $2,500 now for the demo, and he will get $2,500 upon completion of the repair, for a total of $5,000.”

The facade grant program provides reimbursement opportunities for renovations performed on the exterior facade of buildings located in the downtown area. The project must comply with the Historic Downtown Rome Design Guidelines and the U.S. Department of the Interior Standards.