"Cool Cities" Program News

Excerpts from The Evening News, August 15, 2005

Year-Old Program to Make Cities Cool Only the Start for Some

PORTLAND (AP)—Riverside boardwalks. Renovated storefronts. Loft apartments.

Those are among the improvements paid for by state grants last year under Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to make urban areas across Michigan more appealing to young professionals.

Nineteen projects across the state received grants worth $100,000 in the first year of the "Cool Cities" program. A few cities now have newly renovated buildings. But others still are getting permits or continuing to raise money to supplement the state grants.

Residents in some of the 16 cities that won a grant last year are enjoying new amenities, including parks, river walks and art centers, and their new "Cool City" status.

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Some officials in cities that received grants in the first year of the program say the awards gave them easy access to state officials who handle permits for urban renewal projects and opened doors to other funding and donated services.

In Sault Ste. Marie, the campaign to restore a 1930s-era theater and improve neighboring storefronts has received about $100,000 in donated services, including most of the work needed to tear down a wall that split the theater stage.

"Our architect estimated the project will cost $3 million, but I think we can do it for less because there already have been so many in-kind contributions," says Colleen Arbic, one of the project organizers. She expects the restoration to take three to five years.

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