Woman-owned Re:purpose Development LLC has received a $1-million matching grant from the state for their Downtown Centralia Winery Block Project.
Principal Mindy Cooney says the development group has been waiting for the announcement made by the Governor this week for six months since submitting the grant application. She says the announcement is a huge win, not just for them, by for the entire city of Centralia.
Cooney says the project will include renovations of two buildings, including the one where the Downtown Winery leases space.
“We will finish out the commercial space at 100 East Broadway and put apartments on the second floor. That will require an elevator and we have an elevator in our design proposal right now. We want to expand the yard that is there. Right now it is a live music venue. We want to enhance it and continue to use it for that. The grant will also be used to develop commercial space in the 114 East Broadway building”
Cooney hopes there is room for four to five downtown apartments in addition to a few new businesses. She also has plans for the development of the rooftop into a food service area, special events, and a place to watch the passing trains as they pass through downtown Centralia.
“We want to encourage business downtown and what we really see in Centralia is that there are so many creative people. So many people have their own businesses that they operate from home. And I think we’ve seen a rise in things like vendor fairs locally. So what we would like to see is kind of creating a model for other businesses, maybe even bring a few incubators downtown, things like that where we can really encourage current business owners, bring people downtown and really drive home economic development.”
Mindy and her husband Shannon have moved back to the area from Los Angeles and she’d like to see Centralia offer an alternative to create a real option for living a creative, ambitious, full life at a more attractive cost of living. She says they have assembled an amazing team that believes in Centralia with them and the grant will allow them to pursue the revitalization plans for Downtown at a pace they know is important for continuing the momentum already building in Centralia.
Centralia City Manager Kory Smith is congratulating Re:purpose Development LLC for being awarded the grant and looks forward to their continued endeavors to beautify and contribute to the growth of the community.
The grant announced by the governor and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity awarded a total of $ 106 million in capital grants to 50 commercial corridors and main streets throughout Illinois, which represents the largest-ever Rebuild Illinois Downtown and Main Streets grants.
The Re:purpose Development LLC has recently closed on the purchase of the Hoffman-Hart building which they also plan to renovate, but it is not part of this grant project.
