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Urban Renewal Agency awards $50,000 to children's museum project and $144,522 to industrial expansion
Summary
The Grants Pass Urban Renewal Agency approved a $50,000 building‑rehab grant to the Oregon Center for Creative Learning and a combined $144,522 grant to R&B Rogue Properties (Magazine Exchange) for public infrastructure and site improvements.
The Grants Pass Urban Renewal Agency on Aug. 8 approved two grant awards: up to $50,000 to the Oregon Center for Creative Learning (OCCL) for a fire‑suppression system at 110 SW Fourth Street, and up to $144,522 to R&B Rogue Properties (Magazine Exchange) for sewer and water laterals, fire suppression and street frontage improvements at 2249 NE Spalding Avenue.
Economic‑development staff told the URA board the OCCL project — a donated building being converted for preschool classrooms and a children's museum — must install a full fire‑suppression system (sprinklers, vault, alarms and electrical upgrades) to meet code for childcare use. Project costs were estimated at about $240,000; a 25% URA match would exceed the program cap, so the request was for the program maximum of $50,000. Staff said FY26 URA grant funds included a $250,000 allocation, of which $66,343 had been awarded and $183,657 remained available; the OCCL request was presented as consistent with URA objectives for life‑safety and downtown revitalization. The agency approved the award on a unanimous vote.
In a second action the URA approved a grant request from R&B Rogue Properties (Magazine Exchange) to support expansion at Spalding Industrial Park. Staff described the project as a 50,000‑square‑foot new facility with capacity for two additional industrial buildings on the site, five new jobs upon occupancy and extension of services to 17+ acres. The URA participation requested was up to 25% of qualifying private project costs: up to $50,000 for sewer/water lateral and fire suppression work under the underdeveloped‑land program and up to $94,522 for street frontage and public‑infrastructure improvements (total request $144,522). Staff said funds exist in the FY26 URA budget but that a supplemental budget action would be required to allocate the $94,522 for the public‑infrastructure portion. The URA board approved the grant by unanimous vote.
Developers and URA staff said the awards are intended to support downtown life‑safety improvements at OCCL and to spur industrial development and job growth at the Spalding site.
