The region will see nearly $6.5 million in American Rescue Plan grant money for everything from removal of the vacant former Poplar Bluff city offices to the creation of a rodeo museum and food assistance for needy families.
The funds are awarded through three state programs.
The Department of Economic Development has awarded $94 million to help revitalize Missouri communities; $75 million toward shovel-ready industrial sites; and another $30 million to support the recovery of the tourism industry.
A Poplar Bluff green space initiative will get $306,000 to tear down the former city offices at Second and Oak streets.
It is one of 70 projects funded through the Community Revitalization Grant Program, which is focused on investing in communities of all sizes to support local priorities, encourage economic recovery and build resilience for the future.
Demolition of the structure is expected to begin by the end of the year, Poplar Bluff officials have said. The city will fund 50% of the costs at the site, which has been vacant since 2018.
The minimum grant award for this program is $250,000. It was available to cities, counties, industrial development authorities and non-profits.
Other awards in the revitalization grant program were: city of Kennett, rehabilitation of abandoned property, $408,675; city of Naylor, senior nutrition center, $753,551; city of Sikeston, park and green space, $770,634; Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation, park, $250,120; and Southeast Missouri Food Bank, $350,000.
Carter County is receiving $630,454 to go toward the renovation of the historic stone courthouse as a welcome center. It is one of 26 projects funded through the Local Tourism Asset Development Grant Program. It is focused on supporting projects that further the recovery of the tourism, travel and hospitality industries.
This historic courthouse was damaged by record-breaking flooding in April 2017. By the following July, the building had been stripped to the studs, sprayed with chemicals to prevent mold, and found structurally sound by engineers.
The first floor had up to five feet of water from the Current River, officials said at the time, promising the 1936 structure would not be abandoned.
It was project 168 of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, constructed with local stone and 10-inch oak support beams.
Also funded through the tourism grant is $484,138 awarded to the Sikeston Regional Chamber of Commerce for a visitor center and rodeo museum.
The minimum award for the tourism grants was $250,000.
Grants were available to cities, counties, non-profits, designated marketing organizations, convention and visitors bureaus and chambers of commerce.
The Industrial Site Development Grant Program will fund 15 projects and is focused on helping communities develop shovel-ready industrial sites to support business expansion and attraction.
The city of Sikeston was awarded $2.5 million for a shovel-ready program.