INDIANAPOLIS – Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs today announced 22 rural Indiana communities will receive more than $12.5 million in federal grant funding to create and expand community facilities, remove blight and improve water infrastructure.
“I am so proud of the leaders across Indiana that are committed to improving the quality of life of their communities,” said Lt. Gov. Crouch, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “I look forward to seeing the completed projects and the benefits they will have for years to come.”
The State of Indiana distributes Community Development Block Grant funds to rural communities, which assist units of local government with various community projects such as infrastructure improvement, downtown revitalization, public facilities and economic development.
“Congratulations to each of these 22 communities on being awarded this grant funding,” said OCRA Executive Director Denny Spinner. “Community Development Block Grants can have a transformational impact on a community, and I applaud all those taking advantage of this opportunity.”
Logansport has been awarded funding through the Blight Clearance Program, which strives to encourage Indiana communities with blighted properties to focus on long-term community development and revitalization through improving quality of place, generating jobs, and spurring economic revitalization. Eligible projects to receive grant funding through BCP are deteriorated or abandoned downtown buildings, or vacant and unusable industrial sites.
The City of Logansport is awarded $490,500 to address blighted conditions by demolishing the concrete slab foundation of the Trelleborg site, located at One North General Street in Logansport. The building was originally constructed in the 1940’s as an automobile rubber tire and component manufacturing plant. The building operated as such until 2004. The approximate 234,300 square foot blighted site occupies half of the 11.05 acre property. The project includes removal of the concrete slab, proper disposal of the material, backfill and grade, and returning the lot to a public greenspace and a potential future trailhead.
Funding for OCRA’s CDBG programs originates from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program and is administered for the State of Indiana by OCRA. For more information, visit in.gov/ocra/cdbg.