Manistee was awarded a $700,000 grant that will help fund their Gateway Redevelopment Project.
Manistee has been working on this project for more than a year. It’s a project that will bring much needed improvements to the downtown area. The project consists of the demolition of several older buildings to create a new face for the downtown area, with hopes of bringing an economic boost.
“We opened our store last November and we heard about the gateway project after that… we’ve been waiting,” said Anita Shaffer, Co-Owner of Port City Emporium.
The City will be able to tackle the next steps in the project, as they were awarded the Brownfield Development Grant, along with another $800,000 in loan money.
“We are excited to have a food truck court right across the street, to have the hotel and walking traffic, the restaurant and bar there,” Shaffer said.
The Gateway Project will begin on the corner of Cypress and River Street right downtown. They plan on adding a welcome center, a hotel, a marketplace, and other attractions.
“It’s going to take a corner that needs some help in terms of attractiveness,” said Edward Bradford, Chief Financial Officer and Interim City Manager for City of Manistee. “A wild factor is, you’re coming into Manistee and will hopefully draw people in if they’re travelling on US-31 to visit our downtown.”
The City hopes to start some construction as early as late fall.
”It’s fantastic for the whole community,” said Tim Riley, Chair of Board of Directors of the Manistee’s Visitors Bureau. “In a transformational project for the downtown area. You know, the project right there, it’s almost like the front porch of our community, of our downtown.”
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