GRANTS WILL FUND PUBLIC BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS

More than 84 Illinois communities, 11 of them in five Southern Illinois counties, will share in $4 million in Community Development Assistance Program grants to renovate public buildings to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities.

The grants will provide funds necessary to enable local governments to undertake renovations needed to ensure that public services are accessible to all citizens in compliance with requirements under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Jan M. Grayson, director of the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, which administers the grants, said funding recommendations were based on a community's justification of projected needs, financial need and the eligibility of the activities outlined in the project implementation plans.

The grants are funded with federal block grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and are granted to local governments with populations of 50,000 or fewer that are not within one of the six large urban counties that receive funds directly from HUD.

Three projects announced this month were for Cairo projects. A $12,935 grant will be used to improve handicapped accessibility to the Alexander County Courthouse, and a $22,170 grant to Cairo will be used for rehabilitation to city hall and the city library.

Grants for 11 projects in Alexander, Union, Pulaski, Johnson and Massac counties totaled more than $230,000. The largest grant in the five counties went to Massac County, which will receive $38,250 for improvements to the courthouse and senior citizens center at Metropolis. Also on the list for grants of more than $30,000 for improvements, including courthouse rehabilitations, were Union, Johnson and Pulaski counties.

Communities receiving grants in the lower five counties of Illinois include:

-- Alexander County (Cairo): courthouse rehabilitation, $12,935.

-- Anna: rehabilitation of city hall, police and fire stations, $10,000.

-- Cairo: rehabilitation of city hall and library, $22,170.

-- Cobden: city hall, $4.910.

-- Jonesboro: city hall and library, $14,535.

-- Johnson County (Vienna): courthouse, sheriff's office, treasurer's office. $34,670.

-- Massac County (Metropolis): courthouse and senior center, $38,250.

-- Pulaski County (Mound City): courthouse and senior center, $35,760.

Tamms: village hall and community center, $14,820.

Union County (Jonesboro): courthouse, assessor's office, senior center, $30,160.

Vienna: city hall and library, $9,380.