The City of Fairbanks is launching a new grant program meant to encourage downtown businesses to revamp how their buildings look from the street.
That’s after the Fairbanks City Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday authorizing the mayor to start the so-called Storefront Improvement Program – though Councilmember Jerry Cleworth, who owns a business downtown, did not vote due to a conflict of interest.
Fairbanks Mayor David Pruhs says the idea is based on similar programs that had success in Kodiak and Soldotna. According to the Monday resolution, the City of Soldotna awarded about $130,000 through their version, leading to roughly $580,000 of private investment.
But for now, Pruhs said, the first year is a trial run.
“We don’t know if this is gonna work, but if it works, great. If it does not work, we’re not refunding it,” he said, though the council would ultimately have the final say either way.
A quarter million dollars in bed tax revenues will fund the program’s first year, which is restricted to businesses between 1st and 5th avenues and Turner and Noble streets.
The money comes from a 7% slice of the total room rental tax revenues that's reserved for covering safety costs at special events and promoting economic development; the council budgeted that slice at $350,000 in total for the current year, according to a fiscal note attached to the resolution.
“I’ll make a prediction that all of the funds will be at least applied for. Whether or not they’ll be approved is another matter. But I think that it’s been really well received,” David van den Berg, the executive director of the Downtown Association of Fairbanks, told KUAC Tuesday.
His organization aims to improve quality of life in the area and has a membership made up of dozens of businesses in and around downtown.
Van den Berg said he understands why the city is funneling the money toward a limited section of downtown for the first year to make results more pronounced, though he hopes to see the program expand in the future.
“You have to be able to look at it at the end of the time period and say, ‘Wow, this area looks better.’ And so I think for it to be noticeable, for it to be somewhat more measurable, we totally support the application in a smaller area,” he said.
Grant applications and parameters for the Storefront Improvement Program went live on the city’s website Tuesday afternoon, though the resolution technically does not go into effect until six days after being adopted.
Those parameters say the city will reimburse a maximum of $50,000 per project and require a dollar-for-dollar match from selected applicants.
The funds will target facade upgrades at retail stores, bars and restaurants, professional offices and other commercial operations in the downtown core.
The program page says nonprofits may also qualify if the city deems their proposed project would help revitalize the downtown economy.
The guidelines also say successful applicants must complete work on the project within a year of signing an agreement, with a single six-month extension possible.
A program timeline indicates that the city will send out the final round of award letters by July 25.
Amid the ongoing demolition of the Polaris Building, the upcoming installation of a Portland Loo and other downtown projects, van den Berg said he believes this grant program is another sign that the city is currently serious about uplifting downtown Fairbanks.
“The city is engaged, and it’s different from the way it has been [before],” he said.