Madison, Maple Bluff among nine Dane County municipalities to get BUILD grants for revitalization projects

May 29, 2007
Joanne Haas, Office of the County Executive (608) 267-8823 or cell (608) 669-5606
County Executive

Madison and Maple Bluff are among the nine Dane County municipalities sharing $110,000 of the Better Urban Infill Development (BUILD) planning grants awarded this week for projects to revitalize downtown business districts or to transform blighted properties. “All around Dane County community leaders are realizing the great potential of their downtown business districts and properties that have gone too long without real purpose,” Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk said. “These grants help keep communities healthy and active with development that stays in the urban area without touching precious farmland.” The city of Madison’s grant is $7,500 for a market study of Royster-Clark Fertilizer Company and nearby business along the Cottage Grove Road corridor - recommendations will be included in a special area plan for the redevelopment of this site. The village of Maple Bluff’s grant is $16,000 for the Gateway Plaza Redevelopment, Implementation and Strategy Plan. Planning grant applications also were approved for the villages of Belleville, Cross Plains, Dane, Oregon and Waunakee, and the cities of Sun Prairie and Stoughton. The $110,000 worth of BUILD grants for these communities brings to $971,000 the total amount provided communities since the program began in 1999. Falk created BUILD to help local governments transform districts and properties. Projects awarded are: Village of Waunakee, $19,750: Redevelopment in the North Madison Street Re-Development Area, a former industrial area of 15 acres that is bisected by Six Mile Creek. Village of Belleville $10,000: Create a pre-development framework to revitalize downtown. Village of Cross Plains $14,400: Redevelopment in two downtown districts on the south side of Main St. - West Gateway and Commercial Core. Village of Dane $10,000: Downtown Dane Revitalization Project - aimed at revitalizing the downtown business district with a mixed-use development to include retail and service commercial uses, in addition to housing or senior citizens. Village of Oregon, $11,000: Redevelop a 1.42-acre site on Jefferson Street for a mixed-use retail/residential development. City of Sun Prairie, $15,000: In anticipation of the sale of the Dane County garage site, funding will be used for analysis of re-use and redevelopment of the for former Dane County Garage site. City of Stoughton $8,750: Create the first redevelopment authority district (RDA) in Stoughton in order to convert the Railroad Cooridor Redevelopment Plan to a Statutory Redevelopment Plan; conducting a feasibility study of the vacant South Street Highway Trailer Facility in order to turn the site into a live/work space for artists, housing and gallery space. ###