Oconto Falls downtown revitalization grant approved

Planning grant could aid up to 50 downtown properties
By: 
Warren Bluhm
Editor-in-chief

A planning grant has been awarded to fund a downtown study for the redevelopment of Oconto Falls downtown, “which desperately needs that,” according to the executive director of Oconto County Economic Development Corp. at the county board’s July 22 meeting.

Paul Ehrfurth reminded the board that the Oconto Falls City Council, the city Main Street Committee and Oconto County Economic Development Corp. worked together on the application for a $75,000 planning grant from the Community Development Block Grant-CLOSE program — so named because the money comes from the now-closed revolving-fund loan program that CDBG once funded.

A consultant would be asked to develop strategies to revitalize an approximately 50-parcel area of downtown Oconto Falls that has seen better days, Ehrfurth said.

During a public hearing last August, Ehrfurth said business owners and residents would be asked to help create a strategic plan that could involve programs to improve storefront facades, microloans and similar efforts to “get some synergy growing.”

The city of Oconto Falls has been informed it will receive grants for two projects totaling about $1.2 million — the other being a renovation of the senior and community center on Caldwell Avenue.

City Administrator Vicki Roberts told the council this month the main project objectives are to increase accessibility and ease of use and to provide a better experience for the community members who use the facility. The grant covers architectural design, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and civil engineering services along with the bidding phase and construction phase services.

She submitted a timeline that would see bid requests go out next May with construction starting in July 2022 and completion around November 2022.