The City of Seward recently received an additional boost towards its downtown revitalization goals.
The Nebraska Department of Economic Development announced the latest recipients of the Community Development Block Grant's Downtown Revitalization funds. Seward was awarded $435,000 through the program to improve commercial facades and infrastructure in Seward's downtown.
Jonathan Jank, Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership president and CEO, said this was Seward's third round of funding with the program. The first, in 2016, was a planning grant and the second was an implementation grant to fulfill projects identified in 2016. Jank said the third round of funding will be used for additional projects downtown.
“That will go towards the commercial rehabilitation facade program,” he said. “We have more buildings we want to invest in. Any time we're dealing with a historic district, those buildings need TLC and need local developers to keep them vibrant and make it an exciting place for businesses to open and grow.”
Jank said the program has been bolstered by the use of Tax Increment Financing and LB840 (local sales tax). Through those programs, he said the city has been able to celebrate dozens of projects, including improvement of windows, tuckpointing of the facade and improvements to plumbing, electrical and accessibility aspects of businesses.
“You can walk around downtown and see the tremendous investment made in that time between the downtown revitalization grant and using our local tools,” he said.
Jank said these projects are important because they preserve downtown Seward's historical aspects and encourage growth both downtown and throughout the county.
“It's really critical to the support of our county that we have a viable downtown,” he said. “It helps drive other growth throughout the county. When businesses are looking to make investments, they care about retail and restaurant amenities available to support their employees.
“This helps move Seward County from a good place to live to a great place to live.”
Editor's note: The Seward City Council was scheduled to sign papers accepting the grant funding at the Nov. 16 regular meeting. This week's edition of the Seward County Independent went to print prior to the meeting.
