Concrete wins $1.3 million in grants

By Jason Miller
posted 12.8.11

Town of Concrete had a good, good, last couple of months, securing three grants—two quite major—that will help beautify and bring greater levels of safety to local roads, while starting the Superior Building adaptive reuse project on the right foot.

$1.3 million TIB grants
The town learned in late November that it had been approved for two Washington State Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grants totaling more than $1.3 million.

The first grant, for $963,410, will help fund a complete reconstruction of Main Street from Cupples Alley west to Superior Ave. Two 12-foot-wide vehicle travel lanes, and south-side curb and gutter, planter strip, and sidewalk are planned, as well as elements that bring the sidewalk into compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations. The total cost of the project is estimated at $1,014,747, leaving the town to pay $51,337.

The second TIB grant, for $381,135, will help fund construction of a 350-foot-long concrete sidewalk, curb and gutter, and a concrete retaining wall on Superior Ave. South, where it passes beneath Concrete High School. The total cost of the project is estimated at $401,196; the town will need to pay $20,061.

The project will provide a safe route for students to move along Superior Avenue, especially when motor vehicle traffic is at its highest. The addition of a flashing school zone warning/speed limit sign will help to regulate motor vehicle traffic.

Town of Concrete Treasurer Andrea Fichter told Concrete Herald the town will seek other grant funding for the total of $71,398 in matching funds it will need to pay for the two projects.

Dept. of Archaeology grant
In October the town was awarded $7,000 in grant funds from Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. That money, along with about $5,000 in matching funds from the town, will go toward a feasibility study on the Superior Building.

Also in October, the town tapped Seattle-based architectural firm The Johnson Partnership to perform the feasibility study. That group was in town Dec. 2, using radar to do an initial test of the building’s structural soundness.













 
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