Five Old South Baton Rouge businesses will receive matching grants and help from LSU to improve the curb appeal of their offices or storefronts, the Center for Planning Excellence announced today. The grant recipients are:
—Odell S. Williams “Now & Then” Museum of African-American History on South Boulevard
—B&B Copier Sales & Service on Thomas H. Delpit Drive
—Cheap-O-Mart on Thomas H. Delpit Drive
—Culture Inc. on Oklahoma Street
—Iron Stone (Jerry’s Apartments) on 456 W. Roosevelt Street.
Capital One, Chase, the East Baton Rouge Mortgage Finance Authority, Fannie Mae and NeighborWorks America funded the grants, and they are administered by CPEX with the Old South Baton Rouge Partnership. Donors will match up to $5,000 for one-story buildings and $7,500 for two-story buildings. The amount of each grant will be determined after designs are submitted. Faculty and students from LSU’s Office of Community Design and Development and the schools of architecture and landscape architecture will provide technical and design assistance to recipients.
The program is part of a Baton Rouge Area Foundation program to help revive the area between LSU and downtown. This is the second round of Façade Improvement Grants. The first round was announced in May 2008. For a story about the efforts of BRAF and others to turn around Old South, click here.
