Newport held a first reading on creating the local Buena Vista Historic District and voted to explore creating a façade grant program.
The Newport City Commission will hold an official vote for the creation of the local historic district at a future meeting but went ahead and voted to look into the grant program at its meeting on April 29. The grant money would come from pilot payments from certain industrial revenue bond, known as IRB, projects within the city.
“The facade grant is important,” Newport City Manager Tom Fromme said. “It does show to the residents that the board, the city and staff, and the rest of the community are supportive of the Buena Vista neighborhood and the creation of the new district. Whether you agree or do not agree with it, and so this is an effort to supply necessary resources for people to make improvements to their homes and sometimes necessary repairs.”
Fromme said they haven’t gotten very far with what the grant will look like but said he envisions it to help with more improvement and salvation of homes rather than just the façade.
“Historic preservation is the salvation of existing historic buildings, and we’ve lost a lot of homes in my career here and my life here as you all are well aware of homes that were demoed by neglect because they didn’t replace the roof they did put in windows and rain got in and mold and mildew,” Fromme said.
He said people should keep in mind that Newport is a small town and doesn’t have many extra resources to invest in programs like this. Fromme said the city committed to the plan and sums of money at its board retreat.
Newport Commissioner Mike Radwanski commended Newport Commissioner Julie Smith-Morrow for coming up with the idea.
“I think this is a really creative solution; you know that I have a conflict with the district itself, but I think this is a very creative solution,” Radwanski said.
He also said that as they put the grant program together, he would like to focus on local businesses and reach out to local labor in the early stages to get them at the table.
“I would just say that I’m really hopeful for this and really think that it can make a huge difference for the residents in Newport, and having it tied specifically for the Buena Vista Historic District is critical,” Smith-Morrow said. “I’m willing to work on ironing out all kinds of things to make this work.”
Newport Buena Vista resident Tyler Black suggested to the commission that some funding for the grant program could come from increased enforcement and fines on absentee landlords of derelict structures in the area.
Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli Jr. said they are building the program as they go and will be taking a lot of input during the process.