TULSA, Okla. — Businesses along Route 66 Main Street have a week left to apply for a grant that will help them improve the exterior of their building.
The Tulsa Route 66 Main Street organization is offering these grants and there are only two of them left.
The Josh Stout Gallery is the most recent grant recipient. They used their grant money to renovate the entire exterior.
What used to be a rundown building has now been restored back to life using facade grant money.
“When we first came over here and looked at these buildings, you had to really look at the foresight of what they could be,” Josh Stout, grant recipient, said.
And that’s just what he did.
“We stripped a lot of paint from the original bricks just to reveal their natural character, history, color,” Stout said.
The Tulsa Route 66 Main Street organization is offering grants up to $1,000 worth of facade work.
Those funds could go to a wide range of improvements.
“It could be replacement of windows. It could be planter boxes," Christine Hamner, Route 66 Main Street Executive Director, said. "It could be painting or removal of paint to restore back to original finishes so pretty much anything facade related.”
For Josh Stout, who owns a gallery on Mother Road, applying for this grant was a no-brainer.
“Even though the facade and beautification grants are just a small percentage, everything helps,” Stout said.
People with Route 66 Main Street say they are pleased with what Stout has done with this money.
They say he has set an example of what's possible for other places along historic Route 66.
“A visual image is really good for people to see things moving forward and so I think that’s provided a revitalization to the area so now people are getting excited about it,” Hamner said.
“When you come in here and see the kind of change that we have just in the last year, I think it speaks volumes,” Stout said.
There are only a few days left for businesses to apply. The deadline is December 31st.
If you miss the deadline, the next facade grant cycle will open up in the middle of next year.
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