Roanoke Rapids City Council Tuesday approved a grant project ordinance based on the $3.5 million it received from the state budget as well as Downtown Revitalization Project 2022 grant funds in the amount of $250,000.
City Manager Kelly Traynham said in a memo to the council the city received the state budget funds in the full amount of $3.5 million.
The ordinance passed by the council establishes a budget for the projects to be funded by the state allocation.
The first objective for the money from the state allocation will be used to pay off the Series 2017B bond associated with the Roanoke Rapids Theater which is budgeted for $2.65 million.
The second objective is to allocate $700,000 for public facility improvements and renovations. That includes repairing the elevator at city hall, replacing the roof and carpet at Kirkwood Adams Community Center as well as repairing its fire alarm system.
This objective also includes funding for further improvements at Chaloner Recreation Park which will be used as a supplement to a Community Development Block Grant to fund restrooms and a bath house as well as installing new swing sets.
The third objective has $80,000 earmarked for planning and policy documents which include developing a strategic five-year plan and a long-term comprehensive development plan.
There has been $70,000 allocated for identifying unsafe structures in the city; surveying properties for asbestos; and site stabilization for future use, which are included in the fourth objective.
Rural Economic Development Division grant
Meanwhile Traynham said in a memo to the council that the city is expected to receive $250,000 from the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Rural Economic Development Division.
The money from that grant is budgeted as follows:
$125,000 for uptown district streetscape improvements in the 900, 1000, and 1100 blocks of Roanoke Avenue.
$25,000 for the final phase of improvements for the 1026 Urban Greenspace and implement the remaining items including, but not limited to, courtyard-style furnishings.
$25,000 for selfie stations, which is an outdoor public art project. The aim is to develop a public art program that will attract families and youth to the city. The first phase of the program will commit up to five outdoor locations for artwork, host a call for artists and award up to five artists to install their work in the district.
$75,000 to create a local incentive program that will attract and encourage historic building rehabilitation within the uptown commercial district.
