New beautification grant open to downtown

“We are trying to encourage private investment in public beautification in basically the downtown area,” said KCAB Director Lane Yoder.

The area of eligibility is businesses or commercial space within the boundaries of or adjacent to Linden Street, Cass Street, Fulton Drive and Tate Street. The grants are on a reimbursement basis and may fund up to 50 percent of the approved project cost with a maximum grant of $1,500.

The program has attracted several inquiries thus far. A garden club has expressed interest in doing a mural at a downtown business. Exterior painting and a new front door are among other requests.

Projects such as new windows, new signage, development of a green space, façade repair, architectural landscaping, replacement of exterior fixtures, tuckpointing, and decorative fencing are all things that might be considered for funding. Projects should be of a semi-permanent or permanent nature, making a request for something easily movable, like benches, unlikely to be selected for funding.

Projects must meet city code and are subject to approval by the Corinth Historic Preservation Commission.

“We would love to, in time, expand the geographic boundary and allocate more of our annual budget to this,” said Yoder.

Currently, the program is not open to residential or Airbnb properties.

Interested applicants should first submit a letter of intent to Keep Corinth-Alcorn Beautiful describing the proposed project. The KCAB board will then consider whether to invite a full grant application. More information and where to sent the letter of intent may be found at the KCAB section of The Alliance website.

Approved projects must be completed within 180 days.