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Council discusses multistage plan and grant options to restore Frisco Depot
Summary
Councilman Boyer outlined a phased restoration plan for the city-owned Frisco Depot, citing high repair estimates (about $2,000 per historic window, $20,000 for freight doors and roughly $38,000 for HVAC) and recommending grant applications (CDBG, SHPO) and hiring an architect to produce a consolidated budget for competitive funding.
Councilman Boyer told the Poplar Bluff City Council on May 4 that the Frisco Depot requires substantial work and proposed a phased restoration approach to make the project feasible.
"The deferred maintenance has been going on for decades down there, and the building is in extremely bad shape," Councilman Boyer said, and he provided line-item estimates: historic window repairs at about $2,000 each, freight-door reconstruction at roughly $20,000, and an HVAC package near $38,000. He said those costs could push the total near $100,000 without addressing roof or stucco work.
Boyer said phase 1 could focus on removing window air conditioners and installing a proper HVAC system, using local tourism-tax revenue if appropriate; later phases could pursue preservation grants. He asked for guidance on how community development block grant (CDBG) and State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) grant timelines and rules would affect the schedule and matching requirements.
Rosner, representing the regional planning commission, advised packaging the entire project when applying for CDBG to improve scoring and explained that expenditures made before a grant award usually cannot be counted toward the required match. "Anything you do before you apply for the grant is not gonna be eligible for funding," Rosner said, and he recommended hiring an architect to produce a full cost estimate that could support a grant application.
Council members asked whether completing an initial HVAC phase now would hurt future grant applications; Rosner said grant reviewers will ask why earlier work was done and how the project is structured, so applicants should be prepared to explain phases and financing. He described administrative arrangements for working with the Ozark Foothills Planning Commission and noted the commission typically takes a small percentage of an award for application and administration services.
No budget amendment or formal vote on funding took place at the meeting. Councilman Boyer and staff agreed to pause formal budget action while they pursue cost estimates and evaluate grant strategies; the item was laid aside for later action.
The next procedural step the council flagged was hiring an architect or engineer to develop accurate cost estimates and then deciding whether to include the project in the upcoming CDBG cycle or another preservation grant round.
