PHOTO CREDIT: Sam Greenhill
COVINGTON, Ky. – Got an idea about how to enhance the appearance of your community? Maybe something that will build a sense of place by way of public art or a public gathering space? Something that says, “this is the bold side of the river?”
If you do, don’t keep it to yourself. The City has a new competitive grant program that can help make your vision a reality.
The Quality of Place Grant Program is a competitively awarded program that supports the Economic Development Department’s strategic focus on “Experiencing Covington” and embraces the department’s “manifesto” which, you may recall, points out that The Cov is on “the bold side of the river … where past meets progress … and y’all really means all.”
The City has allocated $125,000 for the grant this fiscal year, and applicants can request a grant of $1,000 to $30,000.
“The grant is very exciting as it enables citizens, nonprofits – really anyone – to work with the City and spend some money to make our community a better place to live, work and play,” said Kyle Snyder, the grant’s project manager. “Tying the grant to the new Economic Development manifesto will make it interesting.”
The Quality of Place Grant Program will have one grant cycle for the first year, with an application deadline of 4 p.m. Nov. 18. You can find the application (and the complete manifesto) HERE.
Here’s the application process:
Step One: Develop an idea on how to creatively enhance the physical appearance of one of the City’s business districts or nodes, building a sense of place through improvements, new works of public art, public gathering places, etc. While you don’t necessarily need demonstrated support from adjacent property owners where your idea is being proposed, their buy-in will make your application more competitive.
When developing a project idea, keep in mind:
- Projects must enhance the quality of place in the business node or neighborhood through visible physical improvements or activate a neglected or underused space.
- Projects must have a City-wide benefit or a general benefit to the area.
- Physical improvements or art may be permanent or temporary.
- Projects must be executed before the deadline or funds sill be returned to the City unless an extension has been granted.
Step Two: Schedule a meeting or a phone call with project manager Kyle Snyder or Assistant Economic Development Director Sarah Allan to discuss your idea/proposal. This will allow a general vetting of the project and address any concerns.
Step Three: Submit the completed application by the Nov. 18 deadline.
Step Four: A committee of City staff will evaluate submissions based on scoring criteria recommend proposal(s) to the Covington Board of Commissioners for approval.
Step Five: City staff will work with the winning applicant(s) to coordinate the necessary items, including execution of a grant agreement, to access the funding as quickly as possible.
Have questions? Contact Kyle Snyder at kyle.snyder@covingtonky.gov.
Now, go come up with something “bold.”
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