Forest Grove staff outline $500,000 downtown 'glow up', grant programs and Main Street assessment

City staff presented a multi-pronged downtown strategy that pairs streetscape and infrastructure improvements with business incentive programs and a state Main Street assessment.

Community Development Director Brian Pohl described a 'downtown glow up' that will trim or replace problematic street trees, repair lifted sidewalks, replace steel grates with a flexible porous surface, add trash receptacles and electrical access for events. Pohl said the package is roughly $500,000 and would draw from several funds — including ARPA, urban renewal, transient lodging tax (TLT) receipts, the street fund and street-light fund — and is currently out for bid.

The Urban Renewal Agency has launched a building‑improvement grant program offering matching awards up to $100,000 per project; staff said nine applications totaling about $250,000 had been submitted and that the URA budgeted $350,000 for the program this year. Staff also recapped an existing $10,000 storefront improvement matching grant (roughly 20 projects funded) and a tourism sponsorship program that budgets approximately $40,000 per year with up to $5,000 per event.

Sherry Stewart of Oregon Main Street outlined a community assessment scheduled for March that will include surveys, focus groups and a public town hall. Stewart said the Main Street network provides technical assistance at no cost and highlighted state grant opportunities, including a Main Street Revitalization Grant (legislatively authorized funding with awards up to $400,000 for qualifying building projects).

Councilors asked staff how the city will measure the economic returns of downtown investments; staff suggested taxable assessed value growth, building permits and foot‑traffic surveys as potential metrics and committed to better public communication of the downtown investment story.