Main Street Fort Dodge wins grants

A $7,000 award from the Texas-based Build a Better Block program will help pay for sprucing up a small section of Central Avenue, Kris Patrick, the executive director of Main Street Fort Dodge, told the City Council Monday.

A $15,000 technical assistance grant from the statewide Main Street program will pay for a future survey of market needs.

The Build a Better Block grant will be used to address the south side of the 1100 block of Central Avenue. There is a vacant lot in the middle of the block where Keith’s Beer Garden stood before it was destroyed by fire. There are also a couple of vacant storefronts there.

Patrick said Main Street Fort Dodge volunteers will go to work on that block on April 11-12.

She said the Build a Better Block program uses, among other things, art and wooden street furniture that can be quickly assembled using rubber mallets to improve the appearance of an area.

She said the $15,000 grant will be used to complete a survey with the goal of identifying market needs and recruiting additional businesses to downtown Fort Dodge.