MILTON-FREEWATER — The Milton-Freewater Downtown Alliance was able to lay another brick in its town square concept with $20,000 in grants, the organization announced recently.

Alliance Executive Director Julie Culjak said in a news release the idea is to take an unused parking lot in Old Town Freewater at the corner of North Main Street and Northwest Fifth Avenue and repurpose it into a business incubator and activity center named Freewater Square.

The two grants came courtesy of the Milton-Freewater Area Foundation and the Reser Family Foundation. In addition, the Reser Family Foundation will support Milton-Freewater annually for the next four years through its Small Community Initiative in the form of grants, fundraising, and event coordination and management.

Culjak said in the release the project will act as the springboard for the next step, which will be a permanent public market on another underused lot on North Main Street.

A mural contest for art to be featured at Freewater Square has an extended deadline of Sept. 16 because of COVID-19-related precautions. The hope is to reveal the art to the public by Nov. 1.