ESTEVAN — The City of Estevan has received a federal grant to proceed with engineering work for downtown revitalization, which includes the 1100 and 1200 blocks of Fourth Street.
The approval came through this fall and the preparation work has already started, Mayor Roy Ludwig said at the November Coffee Talk hosted by the Estevan Chamber of Commerce.
"We were happy that it all worked out and we got the money. We're excited about this new downtown project. It'll look fantastic when it's done," said Ludwig.
"Everyone that I've talked to downtown is excited about it. It looks like a really good project. Now, having said that there will be disruptions while this work is done. But I think the disruptions will be worth it."
The federal money, which amounts to $750,000, was approved a few weeks ago and covers initial engineering design, consultation, bid documentation and procurement tendering.
City manager Jeff Ward said this stage needs to be done as soon as possible to ensure the city can hit the ground running at the start of May if the infrastructure portion of the project gets approved.
"This grant that we got from the federal government will be shelf-ready. We don't have the funding yet to actually do it. This is all of the engineering to get everything ready to go, so that if we do get the funding – and again, this is all paid for by the federal government – the actual work will probably start in the spring and hopefully, have it done by fall," Ludwig said.
"This comes through the federal [coal] transition funding for communities that are in transition. And that's where the funding will come to actually do the work," Ludwig said.
The engineering specification are utilizing the report from George Harris Design, which was derived from multiple public consultation sessions. A video with the potential new look for downtown was released last year.
If the second grant comes through, the Estevan downtown revitalization will be paid for by the federal funds.
"Anytime you can improve an area of the city and have it paid for by the government, that's a bonus," Ludwig said.
Ward added that if anyone has any comments or concerns about the project to please submit them via email to [email protected].
