A Ball State University grad student helped Noblesville rebuild its downtown area through the city's Façade Improvement Grant Program.
Susan Lankford, the assistant director of the Center of Historic Preservation, said this program started two years ago. The city of Noblesville contacted the Center of Historic Preservation to start a façade program.
Lankford said a façade program is when a city has a pool of money and loans it to building owners to invest in their buildings. After being asked to start the program, the center researched the best way to give these grants.
Building owners applied for a loan and had to match 50 percent of their loan. These loans were used for renovations and other repairs to buildings.
Lankford said this program will help the economic development of downtown Noblesville.
"Generally all of these grants are going to the downtown area," she said. "By giving out these grants, we can improve the appearance of the downtown area, which would stimulate the downtown economy."
Chris Pratt, a graduate student at Ball State University, was asked by the Center of Historic Preservation to develop the program. Once asked, she researched different façade grant programs that would make a suitable grant for the needs of the city.
Pratt said there are three different types of grants a building can receive.
The small projects grant gives businesses up to a $2,500 grant to make small improvements on their building, she said. This can include repairing outdated outdoor fixtures.
There is a substantial grant where businesses can acquire up to $25,000 in order to make large repairs, such as replacing windows or cleaning exterior walls, to their establishments.
The third type of grant given is an architecture design assistance grant. Businesses could receive $500 to hire professional design services.
Businesses had to meet three requirements to be able to receive these grants. They had to be located within the city limits, have commercial activity as the main goal and must not be delinquent in property taxes.
This project took Pratt a little more than a year to finish and helped Noblesville become a Preserve America Community, according to preserveamerica.com.
Pratt is happy with the knowledge she gained while working on the project.
"It was a great real-world experience," she said. "It is good to know that this project helped a community with their building development."
Pratt said she started a good façade program and believes she could start another program.
"I feel confident I could do this again if asked to professionally," she said.
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