Governor McDonnell has announced  that Waynesboro, a Designated Virginia Main Street Community, will receive a $770,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for its Downtown Revitalization Project.

The Virginia CDBG program is administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).  The grant was one of only 12 successful applications from among the 30 which competed for nearly $9 million in funding.  It was the only grant awarded for a downtown revitalization project this year.

The City of Waynesboro, Waynesboro Downtown Development, Inc. and the Waynesboro Housing & Redevelopment Authority have worked together for the past two years to develop their application.  Waynesboro’s downtown project is directly tied to the community’s economic restructuring strategy, as shown in this application statement released publicly by the community:

The City of Waynesboro in partnership with its Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RHA) and WDDI, the city’s Main Street organization, will undertake comprehensive economic restructuring in the city’s downtown business district. The effort will build on revitalization initiatives to date and include major facade renovations, streetscape work on the district’s principal streets, and repurposing of a large riverfront park adjacent to downtown. Complementary marketing activities will support downtown’s emerging role as a cultural arts district and premier outdoor recreation destination. The restructuring strategy also aligns well with private-sector brownfield redevelopment of the once-industrial South River riverfront, which has been steadily transforming in character to a more eco-friendly setting for business development, local festivals and an urban trout fishery. The proposed improvement program is also coupled with transportation enhancement (TE) projects already in the construction pipeline for downtown streetscape measures and greenway trail development. Altogether, this project will have a major beneficial impact on the downtown economy and bring increased business growth and tax revenue to the city.

Congratulations to the Waynesboro community. Now the work continues.