Cheyenne Downtown Development Authority outlines recovery plan, new projects and grants

Sophia Maize, executive director of the Cheyenne Downtown Development Authority, told the Cheyenne City Council on March 20 that the DDA has spent the past year rebuilding its foundation and executing parts of a refreshed plan of development.

"When I joined just over a year ago," Maize said, the agency faced "compliance gaps, programs that were unclear," and a new plan without an implementation strategy. She said the DDA has started 16 of 35 actions listed in that plan, with six near completion or converted into repeatable processes.

The presentation listed concrete accomplishments: a systemic sidewalk-repair process coordinated with the city's 1% construction team (two sidewalks completed in 2025 and nine applications awaiting spring 2026 cost estimates); a downtown asset inventory built with city engineering interns cataloguing fixtures such as bike racks, planters and lights; reinstatement and tightening of the façade improvement grant program; and a pilot of eight water-efficient planters paired with public signage for feedback.

Maize also reviewed recent grant activity. She said 14 grants closed in 2024 with more than $263,000 dispersed; in 2025 six grants were completed with about $97,000 dispersed and three still pending; and in…