Grant will help clean up Sikeston's sunset community

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sunset community will receive a facelift over the next year, due in part to a $350,000 Community Development Block Grant.

"It is specifically targeting the old Compress building," said Trey Hardy, Sikeston's Community Redevelopment coordinator. The building is located between Compress and West North streets.

Gov. Matt Blunt's office announced on Wednesday the city of Sikeston's grant approval by the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

"It's going to change the appearance of the Sunset community considerably," said David Ziegenhorn, chairman of the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority. It, along with a couple of other demolition projects in the area will be carried out and completed in the next year.

"This is going to be a great clean up project for the Sunset community, because it's been a longtime eyesore," he continued.

"I am pleased the state can award these resources to help improve the quality of life in Sikeston and spur new economic development in the city," Blunt said. "I look forward to initiating the start of this project and providing the necessary assistance toward successful completion."

Sikeston is one of Blunt's Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) communities.

Ziegenhorn said the approval came less than 90 days after the grant deadline. "We're very pleased that the grant went through as quickly and well as it did," he said.

The grant will be utilized for the demolition of vacant, blighted structures. The project area is mainly a residential neighborhood that is part of a local redevelopment plan designed to remove slum and blight conditions in meeting housing needs of low income households.

Hardy said the long-term benefit will be that the property is made available for development.

"It will give an opportunity for other residential and commercial development in that neighborhood," added Ziegenhorn.

According to Ziegenhorn, there is quite a bit of paperwork to be done before the actual demolition can begin. In all, the project will take a year, he said.

The grant program, administered by the Missouri Department of Economic Development, provides grants and loan funds to cities with a population under 50,000 and counties under 200,000 to assist in a variety of public works and economic development projects.

Blunt launched the DREAM initiative to help small and mid-sized Missouri communities navigate through the various downtown revitalization, business development and residential resources available through state government to further help those communities with downtown revitalization and job creation efforts. The Missouri Department of Economic Development is the lead agency in the effort and works closely with the Missouri Housing Development Commission and the Missouri Development Finance Board to provide close assistance to the selected communities.

Since Blunt announced the first 10 DREAM communities in 2006, they have received more than $225 million in total investment for housing, construction and renovation projects and infrastructure improvements. Public investment in the communities to date totals $38 million, less than a fourth of the total private investments. Public funding secured through the governor's initiative has created an unprecedented $189 million in private investment to benefit the 10 communities.