Suffolk offering $500K in downtown grant program

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Suffolk County is now accepting applications for its $500,000 Downtown Revitalization Grant Program. 

The grants are available to help fund capital projects on municipally owned property in or adjacent to downtown areas and recipients will be selected by the county’s Downtown Revitalization Citizens Advisory Panel following a competitive application process. 

“This important economic development program continues to support the creation of the vibrant, walkable downtown areas that are vital to our regional economy,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said in a county statement. “We look forward to another round of quality investments in partnership with our local towns, villages and community organizations.” 

Eligible projects include public parking facilities, curb and sidewalk construction, pedestrian walkways, street lighting, public restrooms, disabled accessibility, renovations to existing structures, and cultural facilities. The project must be a capital improvement project and funding requests must be for at least $10,000. The prospective grant recipient must partner with a municipality and the project needs to be located on municipally owned property in or adjacent to a downtown, and the project lifespan must be at least 15 years, according to the statement. 

Grant applicants must be organizations that represent a downtown area, including business improvement districts, chambers of commerce, civic associations, historical societies, beautification societies, and local development corporations, and must partner with their local municipality. 

Applications for the grant program, which can be found in the Economic Development and Planning section of the county website, are due by 4 p.m. on Friday, May 17.