Red-faced spider monkeys, Bornean orangutans and American shopping malls have one indelible factor in common: all teeter on the edge of extinction.
The wave of suburban shopping malls, once monolithic tributes to the rise of consumerism in post-war American, has long crested and laid ground for the resurgence of pre-war small-town charms.
In Plant City, efforts underway to bring those charms back to the city’s Historic Downtown and surrounding areas have steadily increased with help from incentive programs for residents and businesses.
“In the ‘50s, ‘60s and '70s, as you saw the rise of suburban shopping malls, you saw an attempt to make buildings more ‘modern’ to combat the rise of those malls,” Plant City Community Services Director Karen Collins said. “Now, people want to go to places that have that historic character. The goal of the programs are to bring back that character.”
Historic Downtown, Midtown, Lincoln Park and Madison Park make up the city’s Community Redevelopment Area (CRA). Homes, businesses and lots within the CRA could be eligible for new and existing matching grants that can ease the burden of revitalization, Collins said.
In Historic Downtown, the Facade Improvement and Code Correction grant has already helped restore a number of buildings and businesses including Whistle Stop Cafe, Krazy Kup and the Chamber of Commerce.
The grant, Collins said, can help improve structural and aesthetic qualities of the buildings. Refurbishments like repairs to roofs and brick mortar can add longevity to the life of buildings downtown, some of which are more than a century old, she said, while window, lighting and signage repairs can bring back the historic characteristics.
“When we did the renovations in 2014, it just gave the Chamber a whole new look,” Marion Smith, former leader of the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce, said. “When visitors come to visit, that’s usually the first thing they see. It’s positive sign that Plant City is moving in the right directions. It’s a great program the city has in partnering with business owners to make the downtown area more attractive.”
In addition to the facade program, the city recently added three new grant programs for interior build-out assistance, homeowner down payment assistance and homeowner facade and site improvement assistance.
The interior build-out grant can help new and existing businesses with interior renovations, Collins said.
“If a restaurant wants to come in, they might need to put in grease traps or ventilation,” she said. “The grant might be able to help with something like that.”
Additionally, she said, an existing business might be able to use the grant to convert unused or blighted sections of a building into apartments or office space.
“It creates an opportunity for building owners to utilize more operational space,” she said.
On the residential side, existing homeowners within the CRA could use grants to make exterior improvements or even to purchase or build a new home.
“We want to be able to help people get into homes,” Collins said, “but we want to help that existing home owner as well.”
In Lincoln Park, Collins said she has 25 available lots. The homeowner downpayment assistance grant could help a prospective buyer with closing costs to build on one of those lots or with closing on an existing property.
In an effort to create mixed-income communities, she said, the program allows incomes of up to 120% of the area median income to qualify.
With the homeowner facade and site improvement grant, homeowners in the CRA could receive assistance with improvements to the principal facade, landscaping and driveways among other improvements.
All of the grant programs, Collins said, are the basis for creating a revitalized CRA and bringing back the historic charms originally built into those areas.
“It starts changing the environment and starts moving that part of the community forward,” She said. “You take small bites to eat that pie.”