Downtown Facade Improvement Program

The City of Ames offers two types of support for improving non-residential buildings in a portion of the Main Street Cultural District (Eligibility Area(PDF, 774KB) ) based on the adopted Downtown Design Guidelines:

• Matching grants of up to $23,000 with professional design assistance of up to $2,000
• Downtown Urban Revitalization providing abatement of additional property taxes for improvements

Qualifying improvements for either improvement program must follow the Downtown Design Guidelines(PDF, 2MB). One section of the guidelines applies to non-residential buildings that are generally more than 50 years old and were built with the historic retail commercial storefront. Another section of the guidelines applies to all other non-residential buildings in the eligibility area. 

The City also offers matching grants of up to $23,000 for the restoration of historically significant, character-defining features such as original windows.

If interested, please contact Benjamin Campbell at 515-239-5400 or benjamin.campbell@cityofames.org. 

Further information:

• Application Packet for Downtown Facade Grant(PDF, 350KB)
  
  
• Downtown Facade Grant Summary(PDF, 64KB)
  
  
• Application Packet for Downtown Urban Revitalization(PDF, 430KB)
  
  
• Gallery of Completed Projects(PDF, 5MB)
  
  
• Illustrated Summary of Downtown Design Guidelines(PDF, 64KB)
  
  
• State Historical Society of Iowa Grants
  
  
• Historic Preservation Tax Incentives