An Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant was used to restore and remodel the C.D. Putnam’s Ready Wear Building on Adams Avenue, adjacent to the Liberty Theatre building, in the La Grande Commercial Historic District, shown here on Dec. 12, 2024.

LA GRANDE — La Grande Main Street Downtown is searching for property owners or businesses with a building renovation project in La Grande who would be eligible for funding through an Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant.

Interested property owners must complete and submit an online preliminary evaluation form available at www.lagrandemainstreet.org by Feb. 1, 2025. The revitalization committee at La Grande Main Street Downtown reviews each submission.

“We’re looking for projects that help facilitate and strengthen our downtown community,” said Sarah Marcotte, executive director of La Grande Main Street Downtown.

In recent years, La Grande Main Street Downtown has secured three consecutive revitalization grants through Oregon Main Street.

All of those projects were refurbished to historic standards and renovated for business operations.

They were the C.D. Putnam’s Ready Wear Building adjacent to the Liberty Theatre on Adams Avenue; Mavis Hartz’s Bohnenkamp Building, which was renovated for apartments on the upper floor at 1301 Adams Ave.; and the former Maridell Center building, which was renovated to create space for the Press Room and Evermine Labels, at 1124 Washington Ave.

The Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant awards are up to $400,000 in matching funds.

“This means the applicant does the (construction) work and gets reimbursed through the grant,” Marcotte said. “The grant may be used to acquire, rehabilitate and construct buildings on properties in designated downtown La Grande.”

Grant recipients must provide quotes for costs, receipts and proof of payment when asking for grant reimbursements.

Funded projects need to facilitate community revitalization that will lead to private investment, job creation or retention, establishing and expanding viable businesses, or creating a stronger tax base.

Those projects may include façade improvement or accessibility enhancement, such as elevator installations to meet federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Other projects may include installation of basic utilities or second floor renovations such as those at the Bohnenkamp building, which has been renovated into apartments.

“We’d love to see more of that happening downtown,” Marcotte said. “We’re really interested in finding those projects and searching out the people that would be eligible for this grant.”

Once the revitalization committee has reviewed all the evaluation forms, it will select one or two candidates that will be the most competitive for the Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant. Then La Grande Main Street Downtown will fill out and forward an official application to Oregon Main Street by March 13, 2025.

“The match requirement is 30% of the award amount,” Marcotte said. “All the work must be consistent with the secretary of the interior’s standards for rehabilitation of historic places, whether the project building has historic designation or not.”

The program is for buildings 50 years or older, although newer buildings can potentially qualify.

“The project will be considered (by the committee) even if it falls outside the historic boundaries or outside the downtown district,” Marcotte said, “or if we honestly think the project is worth the investment.”

La Grande Main Street Downtown is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that focuses on funding revitalization projects within the La Grande Commercial Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information, visit www.lagrandemainstreet.org or for questions call Sarah Marcotte, executive director of La Grande Main Street Downtown, at 541-805-2820 or email her at director@lagrandemainstreet.org.