Latest news with #CommunityDevelopmentBlock
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New library opens in the heart of downtown Iva
ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – The Iva Branch Library is now open at 622 East Front Street, and leaders hope it will serve as a community hub to bring more people to downtown. It took four years to turn an old fire station into a library, located in the heart of downtown Iva. The ribbon cutting means a new start for this town. Visitors said they're impressed. 'It looks amazing, spacious, airy, modern, clean looking. They thought through the different areas and they especially kept the kids in mind. We're excited about that,' said Abby Almaroad. Laura Hubbard-Covert and her step-daughter, Bryleigh, couldn't wait to check out books. 'This is Bryleigh's first library card. I remember when I was little my mom took me to the library, and it gave me a love for books,' Laura Hubbard-Covert. Library directors said the new library addresses the limitations of the old, smaller library in the building behind Anderson school district three offices. 'We have an expanded children's area really focused on play and creativity. We will have programs in that department,' said Annie Sutton, Anderson County Library Director. 'We also have larger meeting room space, larger study rooms. The community can have meetings and get togethers, things like that here. The space is also transformable. Everything is on wheels and casters, and you can move things around to create more space.' Now that school is out for summer, parents are glad they have an upgraded library close to home to keep their children's minds engaged. 'I think it's very important because over the summer they can tend to kind of forget what they've learned and kind of have to start all over at the beginning of the year,' said Hubbard-Covert. 'I love for them to be able to find books that excite their interest in whatever they're interested in. They can find a book about it and just keep on going with those passions that they have,' said Almaroad. Parents said their child's love for books just increased. 'I would tell her this, that you can do anything you want to do with a book,' said Hubbard-Covert. 'If you want to climb the tallest tree or sail the ocean, you can do it in a book, so read a book!' The Anderson County Library Director said the Community Development Block grant awarded the library with $500,000 for this project. The library is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The library is closed on Sundays. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bluefield eyes long list of municipal projects
bluefield — Building a border monument where West Virginia and Virginia meet, bringing an outdoor stage and more green space to downtown Bluefield, and making travel easier and safer are among the many projects lined up for the city of Bluefield. The Bluefield Board of Directors recently outlined projects that are underway and others that are being considered. One project, the demolition of the vacant Ferri Building on Bland Street has been approved by the board, said City Manager Cecil Marson. This project is being funded by a $296,000 federal Community Development Block grant with an $85,000 city match. Demolishing this structure will create more parking near the new city center park and turn the adjacent alley into a thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists. The new downtown park will be built in a space created when the downtown's 400 block buildings were demolished. A green space, an outdoor stage and a venue for food trucks and festivals are part of the plan. Projects on the city's lists are not confined to the downtown. In February 2024, the city was awarded a $25,547,532 federal grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Safe Streets and Roads for All program. That project involves the creation of four roundabouts in the city, creating pedestrian and bicycle accommodations through a strategic mountain gap, and making safety improvements which include implementing traffic-calming strategies and installing sidewalks, crosswalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons and street lighting on selected corridors. More projects include improvements in Lotito Park featuring a splash pad, repaving parking lots and other enhancements. Housing in the Tree Street and Cypress Street areas along with Bluefield Arts Revitalization Corps (BARC) efforts to revitalize the historic Traveler's Hotel and Hotel Thelma are among other projects as well. Marson said there is a reason for so much ongoing activity. 'I think you have a board and employees here at the city that are steadfast on making our area what we want it to be and it's going to take a lot of hard work and that's what we're committed to,' Marson said about all the projects underway and being studied. 'I know in some cases we could probably do better, but we are doing everything humanly possible to get us to where we need to go; and so we're kind of in the middle of a big time here.' The city is looking at how to implement and fund the long list of projects. 'We're wracking our brains on what is the best path forward and what we can do,' Marson said. Downtown businesses and BARC have done a good job with projects such as renovating and reopening the Granada Theater, he said. The city center project for the 400 block is a foundational part of finding ways to use the downtown's other buildings. The park would help bring more visitors to the downtown and encourage more people to live there. 'There's potentially an argument out there that they don't need any more parks. Well, what I would say is we have to have a reason. Folks want business, right? and a business person wants to know what has the investment been before I spend my money on an infrastructure bringing a business in here,' Marson said. 'It's a chicken or egg discussion, but it's a team game, right? We're putting in this investment to clean up the storefronts, clean up the center of the city with all the great businesses we've got operating down there.' Investing in the downtown's buildings would help attract developers and bring in more businesses, he said. Then the city can see how it can help these entrepreneurs open their doors. 'How do we help you get this building up and get your business up and rocking?,' Marson said. Creating a parking lot at the Ferri Building site would add to making the downtown more attractive for new businesses. 'We're trying to set the table as advantageous as we can to attract that business,' he said. 'All of your customers are going to park right here and they're going to park 50 feet right into your storefront.' Revamping other vacant downtown buildings will be challenging. 'They have gotten in such disrepair, it's economically difficult to revamp those buildings without a lot of outside grant funding,' Marson said. 'There are very few business owners can come and spend $2 million or $3 million on a building. We want a storefront, a bakery, we want a women's clothing shop, a men's shop, a butcher shop. Well, all those businesses, it takes a while to get your return on investment. The buildings we have need to be upgraded and fixed to entice that kind of business. Basically give them shovel ready, store ready places. That's what we're working on right now. We're going to work with a developer and work with our team here to get those buildings upgraded and clean; but we have again we have infrastructure in the town that was built for 30,000 people. We're currently sitting right around 10,000.' The city's long-term goal is to boost its population back up to 30,000 residents. 'It's going to take time, but with this massive infrastructure vacant for 20, 30 years, unfortunately it got into some tough shape and we cannot fix them all,' Marson said. 'We don't have the money to fix them all, so we have to make some hard decisions for the greater good, for the long term.' All the projects Bluefield is undertaking will become part of its Comprehensive Plan, Marson said. The city has gotten public feedback for town hall meetings, and many projects came from those discussions, Marson said. In the near future there will be another town hall meeting to collect more feedback, then the Bluefield Planning Commission will vote on the overall Comprehensive Plan and make recommendations to the Board of Directors which will then vote on whether to ratify it. 'Hopefully we get to a world where the downtown's humming and developers are coming in and they're building all over the place because it's a destination of choice and folks are coming here,' Marson said. 'Hopefully for our Christmas in the future, we'll have the downtown decorated and we'll have a nice park feeding off into our businesses and we've got folks lined up all over the place, traffic jams of folks coming into the city to enjoy Christmas and shop and use all our restaurants and all our businesses, the Granada and Raleigh Street Cinemas.' Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
West Haven Fire Department in Allingtown launches code enforcement program to address fire risks
WEST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — The City of West Haven Fire Department in Allingtown announced on Thursday they are addressing fire risks in unregulated apartments with a code enforcement program. A concern in West Haven is the basement and attic apartments created without the proper permits or inspections, which house hundreds of residents that may be more at risk of fire injuries or death, the fire department said. Firefighter among 2 injured in Hartford house fire The initiative aims to protect vulnerable populations and enhance fire safety within the community, the fire department said. 'The safety of our residents is our top priority,' Fire Chief Michael Terenzio said in a written statement. 'We recognize the critical need to address the unique fire risks associated with unregulated basement and attic apartments. This new program will allow us to proactively identify and mitigate these hazards, ensuring a safer living environment for the constituency.' The program will identify and correct fire deficiencies in unregulated apartments, increase firefighter's awareness of high-risk areas, and ensure the safety of people living in hazardous areas, the fire department wrote. This comes as part of a $49,000 Community Development Block grant, according to the fire department. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
New equipment added to Anderson playground
ANDERSON, S.C. (WSPA) – The City of Anderson is continuing to work on its master plan for improving parks and playgrounds, installing new equipment at Bea Thompson Park on W Market Street. Kevin Haag said his daughter, Charlotte, loves coming to Beatrice Thompson Park. 'She loves coming to the park and playing,' said Haag. 'We live just right down the street. This is the closest park to us.' Haag has lived in Anderson for eight years and has seen makeovers at several parks. 'They've completely revamped another one down the street and they're adding stuff here at Bea Thompson Park years before. They also added equipment by the Civic Center. It's been a lot of changes to parks and they're good,' said Haag. As a father, Haag finds it important that his daughter has a safe place to play. 'When it's busy, there's a bunch of kids here and they all want to do something and take up some piece of equipment,' said Haag. 'Being able to play on everything, just more stuff, more fun would be nice.' City leaders said safety is their number one priority when it comes to developing a master plan for parks. The goal is to have a park where all ages can play in their respective spaces. The right side of Bea Thompson Park will be for younger children and the left side for older children. 'They are adding some climbing type equipment, some netted type equipment,' said Angie Watkins. 'When we initially redid this park in 2020, as you can tell, it's for the younger children who come out and play. We wanted to focus this area on something for the older children and the teens.' According to Parks and Recreation, the new equipment is funded by the Community Development Block grant. 'We did hit a few stall points when we had Hurricane Helene come through, but everything's back on pace now. We should be through here in the next three to four weeks or early April,' said Watkins. The city said the new equipment cost around $600,000. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
05-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Portsmouth: Trump funding freeze could cost city $3 million and 'far beyond'
AI-assisted summary The Trump administration's effort to freeze federal loans and grants could cost the city of Portsmouth $3 million. At least five city staff members and a dozen teachers are directly funded by federal monies. A U.S. judge ruled that a funding freeze would be "potentially catastrophic" for organizations that rely on federal funding. PORTSMOUTH — The deputy city manager for finance and administration estimated an effort to freeze federal loans and grants could potentially cost the city $3 million. Nathan Lunney reported to the City Council to 'simply assess the immediate risk and be mindful of how this might impact programming offered by the city.' Lunney looked at how the effort by President Donald Trump's administration to freeze federal loans and grants could impact the city of Portsmouth. 'What I would tell you in a nutshell is that our quick count … was that the very immediate impact if this were real, and if it were lasting, and if this pause were to delay for a significant period, could be in the vicinity of $3 million,' Lunney told the council Monday night. He stated 'not less than five staff members and a dozen or more teachers on the school side are funded directly (by federal monies), and so there is an immediate impact if the next several weeks don't turn out in a positive way for us.' Impact could be far beyond $3 million In terms of federal monies potentially at risk, Lunney pointed to 'our Community Development Block grant (and) our ICAC, Internet Crimes Against Children programming (in the police department).' Lunney said 'all of these dollars, which are far beyond $3 million on an annual basis, could potentially be at risk. obviously depending on the actions in the nation's capital.' Lunney told the council city staff are continuing to monitor the situation. 'Potentially catastrophic,' judge says Lunney's comments came Monday night after a U.S. judge extended a pause on the Trump administration's plan to freeze the federal loans and grants. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington wrote that a funding freeze outlined in a memo from the White House budget office last week would be "potentially catastrophic" for organizations that rely on the funding to carry out their missions and provide services to the public. Her ruling, issued at the request of several advocacy groups, meant the policy is now subject to two temporary restraining orders. More:US judge extends pause on Trump's plan to freeze federal grants, loans A federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday issued a similar order at the behest of Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia. AliKhan had last week ordered a short, administrative pause preventing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from moving forward with its policy while she considered whether to issue the longer temporary restraining order. OMB in its memo had said the funding freeze was necessary to ensure funding complied with Trump's executive orders on immigration, climate change, diversity and other issues. After first trying to clarify the funding pause, OMB then fully withdrew its memo last week. Portsmouth mayor weighs in Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern reminded the council Internet Crimes Against Children 'is the cops going after child pornography rings and predators.' He stated "the federal government (is) delivering money to communities that are trying to solve issues that affect our entire region. ... The truth is if we're going to solve some of the problems we have in our communities that are bigger than our borders, we're going to need some assistance from the federal government to be able to meet those challenges head on,' he said. Material from USA TODAY is used in this report.
