By Joe Bachman

City officials have submitted an application for a $500,000 grant that will help pay for downtown redevelopment and maintenance.

A special common council meeting was held Thursday morning, which approved applying for a block grant that would help cover construction and maintenance for the triangle redevelopment project, which sits between Veterans Park and Mead Rapids View Park on 1^st St. North. Part of this project is the demolition of Good Time Charlie’s, and site clearance of the Annex building and 4 Stools Tavern if city buyouts are successful.

The riverwall by Veterans Park. (Photo: City of Wisconsin Rapids)

The block grant also includes the maintenance and repair of the river wall along Mead Rapids View and Veterans Parks. Geotech investigations made recommendations to improve the current and long-term performance of the river wall. This will also include environmental remediation to the area.

However, previous applications for this block grant have been denied.

“In terms of competitiveness of our application our chances are a little bit less than what they were previously,” said Mayor Zach Vruwink. “At that time they identified us as not a distressed enough community.”

The grant seeks applicants in which an area meets the definition of a “slum”, or falls under a blighted or deteriorated area under state or local law.

The city has applied for the full amount of $500,000, which meets nearly half of the triangle redevelopment cost of $1,250,000. The results of the application will be back by August of this year.