Before and after  of a building that accessed the  façade improvement  funding available through Downtown Prince George – images courtesy Downtown Prince George.

Prince George, B.C. – The facade improvement grant program is back for another year,   and there is a bit more money in the pot.

“As a result of the  legacies of the Games  and the (City’s) 100th Anniversary  Northern  Development  Initiative Trust was able to provide us with a larger grant” says Downtown Prince George Executive director Colleen Van Mook.

That larger grant means applicants  may be eligible   to be reimbursed  from 25% to 50% of the  facade improvement costs, up to  a  maximum of $5,000.  But there could be more depending on the size of the project says Van Mook because  there is a new ‘incremental’  program  As projects increase in price,  we can increase  that maximum  reimbursement somewhat,  but $10 thousand dollars is the maximum for projects that would be  around $100 thousand dollars total.”

Approval is based on streetscape  improvements “So it is based on trying to  provide projects that would  improve the frontage of  downtown buildings” says Van Mook, “the project is  specific for downtown, the C1 zone.”

The  funding is available  to  property owners or tenants,  but tenants  must have the approval of the  owner of the building.

The facade improvement  program has been in place since 2012, and Van Mook says it has made a difference to the downtown “We have a number of buildings  that have been upgraded.  There have been a number of significant projects, and they may have happened anyway, but we were able to support   a few of them, for example, the Copper Pig.”

Some of the earlier recipients of  facade improvement reimbursement include the Integris building on Victoria.   There was also  facade improvement funding for the  Canada Games House.

Applications  are available  through  Downtown Prince George  either online  or by calling  Downtown Prince George at 250-614-1330.  Applications are being accepted until April 30th.