Crete offering businesses $50,000 grants for downtown revitalization

CRETE, Neb. (KLKN) — The City of Crete is giving out grants for what it calls a “commercial rehabilitation” of its historic downtown area.

Hopeful applicants showed up at an open house Wednesday to hear about the project.

“I want to improve our store, of course, everyone wants that,” said Arminda Avilar, who works at a Hispanic store downtown.

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The project aims to revitalize downtown while preserving the town’s history.

Businesses that want to give their building a face-lift will have to pay for the projects upfront, then the grant will reimburse them up to $50,000.

The grant will be treated as a zero percent interest loan with forgiveness after five years.

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James Owens, one of the project leaders, said the Crete Downtown Revitalization Program is funded through a community development grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office said this will protect the architecture of downtown.

“The bones are still here, great masonry buildings,” said historic tax incentives coordinator Christopher Russell. “There’s been some infill over the years, but it’s a great historical downtown.”

Avilar is hopeful that many other businesses will apply for the grants to help make the town better.

“They want to see the town look good, and that way we can see more people come here to Crete,” she said.