St. Paul is deploying subsidies this summer to help neighborhood companies sell their windows and finance murals and other public arts to make local nodes more dynamic.
“The Council continues to prioritize the investment in our commercial corridors,” said the member of the district 7 council, Cheniquia Johnson, during a meeting on the program. The funds, she said, “can finally support St. Paulites and the city companies.”
Commercial subsidies, a total of $ 1.4 million in local sales taxes, will be used for the improvements and projects of the windows which benefit a whole commercial area, such as murals and other public arts. Funds can also support businesses thanks to the construction of roads, such as the work that takes place in streets like Grand Avenue, Robert Street and Rue d’Arcade.
Minneapolis has long had a similar program, a program to improve street facade, but some say that it has not always been up to the promise to help companies in difficulty. This program, in place since 2008, works as is the program in St. Paul, with funds granted to a set of organizations designated to distribute in their communities.
In St. Paul, the 18 designated commercial corridors which will receive funds include major streets across the city, from Ford Parkway to the southwest corner of St. Paul, to White Bear Avenue in the North East. The companies in downtown St. Paul are also eligible.
Organizations with work history with companies in each corridor – mainly district councils and groups of local companies – will each obtain a fixed money to spend on projects in each commercial corridor.