Two businesses in the Main Street Historic District have received additional deadline extensions on completion of work under a building rehabilitation grant program. The Board of Directors for the Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority and Main Street Program (TRDDA) approved the extensions at a regular meeting Friday. The Speaking Stone Café and Portfolio Ink are both nearing completion of storefront interior renovation projects but needed the extensions because of pandemic-related delays in construction.

The loans were originally awarded in 2019 under TRDDA’s “R2” grant program, which funds permanent improvements to building interiors in the downtown district for commercial and residential space. It is meant to serve as an enticement to new business development and has previously funded several business and rental unit development projects. It was originally seeded with funds from the County.

Both projects received previous six-month grant extensions at TRDDA’s July meeting. Those extensions were applied retroactively, since the original deadlines had passed three months before, and were set to expire this month. The new extensions will expire at the end of January 2021. 

Board Member John “Charlie” Wolgamood abstained from Friday’s vote, since he owns the building where Portfolio Ink is leasing and renovating its space. Tim Raakman, who is also a TRDDA board member, owns Speaking Stone Café and the building it will occupy. He was not present for Friday’s vote, but has previously abstained from votes pertaining to his ownership interests.

TRDDA Executive Director Tricia Meyer said Raakman has also received an extension to the deadline for a “Match on Main” grant, which is not awarded through the TRDDA, but rather the State of Michigan. Funds from the state grant cover expenses for the installation of Speaking Stone’s kitchen ventilation equipment. That grant’s extension correlates with the TRDDA grant extension to January.

Meeting and Agenda Formats Changed

Friday’s TRDDA board meeting took place under a new agenda format. For the past three years, the City of Three Rivers has been taking part in a program called Redevelopment Ready Communities (RRC). Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) administers the program, in which it incentivizes municipalities to improve zoning, permitting, inspection, and public meeting processes as they pertain to economic development.

As part of the RRC process, Meyer said, the city has adopted a new online platform that centralizes placement of meeting agendas, minutes, and other documents, and which standardizes those documents’ formats. The platform centralizes access to, and submission of, various kinds of public reporting, as well as Freedom of Information Act request processes. Meyer said the system is meant to make the city more compliant with RRC-related transparency requirements.

Previously, TRDDA voted to approve financial reports and to place committee reports on file separately. They now fall under a single voting item called the “Consent Agenda,” mirroring a process the Three Rivers City Commission has used for several years.

TRDDA Board Chair Andrew George said, “the new setup came at the last minute for us.” George said he feels it is still important for board members to hear live reports from the chairs of each of TRDDA’s four committees. Those committees include Design, Organization, Promotions, and Economic Vitality. He recommended the organization leave space in the agenda for such reports prior to approval of the consent agenda each month.

Small Events Continue with Live Music Next Weekend

TRDDA is slowly resuming a downtown events schedule, albeit subject to size and spacing limitations and other pandemic precautions. Last weekend, on Saturday, September 26, the organization held a “Downtown Day” promotion, following a proclamation declaring the day as such by the Governor’s Office. The event features various promotions by individual merchants, and members of the public came out to visit and patronize businesses.

The next event will take place on Saturday, October 10. Called “Backstage Bash,” it will consist of a socially distanced outdoor concert on Railroad Drive behind the Riviera Theatre. The event will feature three live bands, and persons wishing to attend can purchase socially distanced and pre-marked “circles” of space accommodating up to five people each. The circles sell for $50 apiece, and proceeds will benefit future TRDDA events. Meyer encouraged board members to sell at least one circle each.

Because TRDDA’s budget was adopted this past spring amid predictions that shutdown and recession impacts on revenues were going to be severe, it did not budget funds for any events in the 2020-21 fiscal year from its general fund. Instead, any events that take place will rely on donations or sales, depending on the format of each. Meyer said she is working to implement a crowdfunding campaign called “Fall in Love with Downtown Three Rivers” to help build up an events fund, and she will also work with board members to seek corporate sponsorships.

Discussions are underway for possible future events for the remainder of 2020. If TRDDA decides to pursue those events, they may include a socially distanced variant of Christmas Around Town, as well as the Midnight on Main New Year’s Eve event. TRDDA has opted not to stage its “Adult Trick-Or-Treating” downtown event this year, but the business owners of the downtown district are discussing hosting the event on their own, Organization Chair and Venue 45 Owner Sherri Rivers said.

In other TRDDA business:

• Meyer said a bench that previously sat in the downtown’s East Walk-Through will be presented to the Three Rivers Public Library for its new downtown location in the near future. The bench features a statue of a girl reading a book. It was donated by Tom and Jackie Meyer during the walk-through’s original construction and has been in storage since TRDDA volunteers began renovating that space earlier this year. A date has not yet been set for the presentation.
• Meyer said work on the East Walk-Through is finished except for few small purchases and installation of a sign approved by the Historic District Commission in September. TRDDA recently cleaned up the Mural Mall with help from the Three Rivers Woman’s Club, whose chair, Mary K. Todd, has also promised to donate a large Christmas tree. Meyer said she and volunteers replaced downtown plantings for the fall season with the assistance of Mary and Michael O’Connor, who donated $100 to the cause. Rivers is preparing winter decorations for the street.
• George said a recent business recruitment training service through the Michigan Main Street program was a success. Consultant Jay Schlinsog and others came and performed a practice run for the recruitment of a business to downtown. George and others toured the area from above by airplane, and Schlinsog provided pointers and guidance on how volunteers and staff can improve their pitch going forward.
• Now that the façade restoration on the formerly condemned 111 Portage Avenue building is complete, the City of Three Rivers has invested close to $6,000 in cleaning out the building’s interior to prepare it for its next owner. “If we get the right person,” Meyer said, “we can provide an opportunity to bring another business to downtown.”
• Meyer is also working with a firm called Building Restoration to plan a downtown building restoration and care workshop. More details will follow as that develops.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.