City Receives Funding on Main Café

Photo in Former Main Street Café Window

Lamar City Administrator, John Sutherland, noted the city had successfully applied for a REDI grant for the Main Café Acquisition. He informed the Lamar Redevelopment Board during their June 24^th meeting that a grant of $13,500 had been approved for the city to use to upgrade the former restaurant at 114 South Main Street.  The application had been in the amount of $18,000.  The acknowledgement letter from DoLA Executive Director, Rick Garcia noted the grant needed to be applied to the project by June 30, 2020.

Although some demolition work by the new owner began in 2014, because of the asbestos content and the overall cost of refurbishing the location, the effort was halted. Some of the asbestos can be disposed of in the city landfill, according to Craig Brooks, Lamar’s Chief Building Official because of its more solid texture.  Some renovation work had been done to the first floor but the second floor suffered from water damage.  This past March, Angie Cue, Lamar’s Community Development Manager said the building is also on the list for a brownsfield assessment, using a portion of a $300,000 grant the city had received.

The latest grant will be used towards the purchase of the building and a plan on how best to capitalize on the renovations, something along the line of either studio apartments or office space which will generate revenues over a longer period.

By Russ Baldwin