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Bowling Green CRA reports early planning, building purchases and facade grants
Summary
Bowling Green staff presented a 10‑year CRA update summarizing recent building purchases, facade grants, a downtown master plan study paid by a Florida commerce grant, and planned entry signs requiring county/DOT coordination.
Pamela Durance, presenting for the City of Bowling Green, told the Hardee County commission that Bowling Green’s CRA was established in February 2015 and that last year was the first year the city used CRA funds for projects.
Durance said the CRA purchased three buildings across from City Hall and has used CRA funds for façade grants and parking-lot improvements. “The purchase of the buildings does come out of our CRA every year,” she said, adding an example: last year the CRA funded façade work for three homes and four businesses, and helped with parking lot improvements for local restaurants.
She described a downtown catalyst vision and a separate downtown master plan now being merged; Bowling Green has a Florida commerce grant paying for the study. Durance said the city is budgeting for welcome/entry signage; because the county contributes to the CRA, she said the city will need county permission and DOT permits before placing signs outside the CRA area.
Commissioners asked about CRA boundaries (Durance said the CRA is small, essentially along the Highway 17 corridor into Bowling Green and up to the post office on Main Street), about existing CRA reserves and how past deposits supported façade grants and building purchases, and about plans to use a former train depot space for an ice-cream shop once ADA upgrades proceed.
Durance said the CRA is still early in implementation and will have another community meeting on the update/study when the consultant’s work is ready for public review.
