City Square grant application pushed back to 2023

    While Imperial council members and Mayor Dwight Coleman will get a report next month, application for a potential City Square construction grant was pushed back a year.
    The city is considering development of the city-owned property north of the library and the parking area serving the library and city offices between 7th and 8th Streets along Broadway.
    A $14,000 grant Imperial received last year provided funds for a feasibility study that gathered public input, in part, to come up with the potential improvements.
    Community Development Director Tyler Pribbeno said engineers Miller & Associates will be at the council’s April 4 meeting to present the study’s findings and drawings of the proposed upgrades.
    It was hoped that a construction grant for the actual work would be submitted in January this year
    However, the amount of 2022 grant funds was in question, Pribbeno said.
    The grants come from the state’s Civic and Community Center Financing Fund, which is funded with taxes or usage fees at several of the state’s large event centers, including the CHI Center in Omaha and Lincoln’s Pinnacle Bank Arena.
    Pribbeno said the maximum CCCFF grant this year would be $375,000.
    He said they’d rather try for a larger grant which could be up to $562,000 in 2023.
    Any grant received, like the $14,000 study grant, must be matched 50% with local funds.
    “We’re hoping next year will have larger grants available,” he said.
    Pribbeno said COVID likely continued to have an effect last year on attendance at events in those large civic centers, causing less CCCFF grant money available.