Blue Heron Main Street Properties was awarded a grant of $2,500 on Tuesday for façade renovations to the Coastal Courier building as part of the Hinesville Downtown Façade Grant Rehabilitation Program.
“This small amount serves as a token from the city and the DDA to show how much we appreciate [the Varnedoes] being here and their efforts to revitalize downtown,” HDDA Director Vicki Davis said.
Mary Varnedoe, who along with her husband David Varnedoe owns Blue Heron Main Street Properties, expressed her pride in helping to rejuvenate downtown Hinesville.
“Improvements downtown have been booming and people are coming back around,” Mary Varnedoe said. “We’re very proud that the work done on the Courier is such a great contribution to the revitalization of downtown Hinesville.”
HDDA Board Secretary Matt Cardella hopes the renovations to the Courier’s building will serve as a spring board for other downtown business renovations. “Others will see the building and say, ‘If y’all can do it, we can too,’” he said.
“The building looks great,” Cardella said. “The Varnedoes, as well as the Coastal Courier, are tremendous assets to downtown.”
The revitalization of downtown is not a quick process and the HDDA has been working on different projects since 2004.
“Revitalization is an ongoing process, and this building completion is another boost to the revitalization efforts,” Davis said.
The Hinesville Downtown Façade Grant Rehabilitation program, started by the HDDA in 2006, is a local incentive program that encourages downtown building owners to renovate the outside of the buildings.
“The concept that drives the program is that property improvements made from the outside in will generate more foot traffic into the buildings and are likely to bring more customers in,” Davis said.
So far, the HDDA has given eight grants totaling just under $10,000. The authority director said typically, two or three grants are given per year.
The HDDA still has funds available for the current year.
Any projects that receive grants from the HDDA must be pre-approved. Davis said that to receive the grant, the project must be in the downtown district and be a long term improvement to the building.
The application for the grant must be completed and approved before any work is started on the project. The Coastal Courier’s application was approved last fall.
The grant is a reimbursable grant. Once the project is complete and all contractors are paid, the HDDA will disperse the funds to the entity conducting the project.
The grant is also a 50 percent matching grant for up to $2,500. If the project costs $5,000 or more, the entity conducting the project would receive $2,500. If the project costs less than $5,000, the entity would receive half of what the project costs to complete.
Davis said the authority has numerous resources to help any business owners interested in making renovations.
