Applications close Thursday for the City of Knoxville Municipal Facade Improvement Grant Program, and six applications were approved at Monday’s city council meeting.
Knoxville is engaged in a comprehensive downtown revitalization process, and a key element of the Revitalization Program involves the re-creation of Historic Downtown Knoxville. Many small Iowa cities have chosen this path and have seen many improvements in the appearance and image of their downtowns, increased civic pride, visitation, consumer spending, business investment, and property values.
In 2022, the City created a Downtown Façade Improvement Grant Program to assist building owners in restoring the facades of their buildings, and in the last four years, 50 applications have been approved on top of the six that were recently approved. Two updates to the program in 2026 will include the implementation of a scoring matrix system and revised eligible lighting costs. The program is available for facades in the downtown area, Pleasant Street, and the Highway 14 corridor. Applications for facades that were approved on Monday include Fantasy Nails, Dairy Queen, McKay Insurance, Braylee’s Diner, Deng’s Garden, and Ivory Soul. City Manager Heather Ussery says she is excited for the continued improvements to buildings in Knoxville through this program.
“We did receive six applications, and we have some business owners that wanted to get started on those, so we went ahead and made a recommendation to the city council to approve those before the deadline, so those six were approved, and we are looking forward to seeing those improvements. I think overall, this local facade grant improvement program has been a huge success over the last four years. We’ve had several property owners that have made some great improvements to their buildings, and I’m happy to see that continue.”
To apply for the grant, follow this link. Hear more from Ussery on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.
