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Fort Wayne Awards Facade Grants To Nine Local Businesses

Zach Bernard/WBOI News

The City of Fort Wayne awarded facade grants Thursday to nine local organizations looking to enhance the exteriors of their properties.

The businesses will receive a combined total of $218,000 in city funding, and have pledged to contribute just over $938,000 in private investment for exterior projects.

Mayor Tom Henry says this public-private partnership is an important way for the City to support businesses in the region.

“We want to attract new businesses, but for those businesses that are here, we need to help them invest in those businesses to grow and prosper and stay in Fort Wayne,” said Henry.

One of the businesses to receive a grant was Punch Films, located in a once-vacant warehouse on Sixth Street - which is close to the site of the first phase of the city’s riverfront development project.

Derek Devine is the owner of Punch Films. He says the grants will help repair their building that went many years without renovations.

“Unlike new construction, there are hidden costs and surprises along the way, so as we progress and do interior renovation and look at how we want to present ourselves to our neighbors and community on the outside, it starts to add up,” Devine said.

Devine says the grant funding will help repair windows and clean up the building’s brick exterior, and those projects will last throughout the summer.

Ziegler’s Window Coverings, Legacy Heating & Air Conditioning, 07 Pub, Shine and Hardin LLP, St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, Headwaters Counseling, Tom Steele Tires and Yellow Retirement Communities were the other businesses to receive grants.

Zach joined 89.1 WBOI as a reporter and local host for All Things Considered, and hosted Morning Edition for the past few years. In 2022, he was promoted to Content Director.
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