A grant received by the North Missouri Rural Housing Coalition will allow for the renovation of the former theater lobby and barbershop at the former Plaza Hotel to be used for commercial space.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
A grant received by the North Missouri Rural Housing Coalition will allow for the renovation of the former theater lobby and barbershop at the former Plaza Hotel to be used for commercial space.
According to Jackie Soptic, who serves as project manager for the Plaza Hotel project, the grant, which was for $59,575 will allow for the second phase of the renovation to take place. She said the space that will be made available would be suitable for any type of office or small cafe for the downtown area and noted that a beauty shop operator has expressed some interest in locating a shop in the former barber shop area. The next step, she said, is to have an architect design the space so bids can be sought for the renovation work.
With this being the second phase, Mrs. Soptic said the third phase will be the renovation of the former theater and the ballroom under it and she noted that she is gathering information on Brownfield grants, which are awarded through the Environ-mental Protection Agency and the Department of Natural Resources. Brownfield grants are made available when there is an environmental concern with a property that is being considered for some type of new development or use. The ballroom has been sealed off due to asbestos, which should make the project eligible for Brownfield funds.
The grant award announced last week was one of 10 awarded by the Department of Economic Development to aid communities in housing, economic development and humans services projects.
Anyone interested in locating a business at the Plaza is asked to contact Mrs. Soptic at 359-5636, ext. 12 or Wendell Lenhart at 359-2212.