Shenandoah officials have formally thrown their support behind a state grant application to help revitalize an iconic downtown structure.
Meeting in regular session Tuesday evening, the Shenandoah City Council unanimously approved selecting Lucis Sheridan's proposal to renovate the former George Jay's Drug Company building at 612 West Sheridan Avenue for the city's application to the Iowa Economic Development Authority's Community Catalyst Grant Program. The state program provides up to $100,000 in grant money to projects aimed at renovation or demolition of underutilized buildings. Sheridan says he and his partner recently purchased the Jay Drug Building, along with the neighboring former Hallmark store property at 610 West Sheridan. Sheridan says the hope is to bring new life to the venerable structure and restore one of its most iconic features.
"We want to reopen the soda shop and bring that back to Shenandoah--we know that's a big staple here," said Sheridan. "We also want to convert that space in both buildings into a kind of apothecary craft store. So that's kind of the premise...but what we want to make it is a community meeting ground again. We want to bring back the community from the highway and bring them back to downtown."
Sheridan says the goal is to restore the building to its 1940s appearance. But, in talks with contractors and builders, he notes that it will be a significant process.
"We don't want to make it look brand new, we want to bring it back to what it looked like in the 1940s," he said. "But that takes a complete HVAC re-haul, it takes a complete electrical re-haul, it takes some foundation repair, it takes some tucking, it takes a lot of build out and a lot of mold remedy. There's a lot of things that go into making that building beautiful again."
In addition to converting the upper story into a loft for his family, Sheridan says he would also hope to use the building for a non-profit he is involved with that offers area youth a chance to work with professional filmmakers through after-school programs. Councilman Jon Eric Brantner thanked all three applicants for expressing interest in helping revitalize the downtown area. Brantner ultimately made the motion to support Sheridan's proposal, noting that the building's historical significance could increase the chances of the grant being awarded.
"The request for funds is a higher number and the timeline that was given, I think I would love to see something open by the end of the year--that's part of the reason for that decision," Brantner explained. "As well as just the historical sentiment, which I think would, based upon what my understanding of the scoring, add a little bit more flair to it for potential for approval at (the state) level."
The council's approval also included the required match from the city for the project, up to $50,000, made up of a $40,000 loan from the city's revolving loan fund and in-kind contributions. Vision Shenandoah Executive Director Margaret Brady emphasized that the IEDA also prioritizes projects where cities have "skin in the game."
"The city of course receives the money and then it passes through to your project but you get $60,000 at the first but you don't get the next $40,000 until the project is substantially complete," said Brady. "So my thought was if the $40,000 could be part of the revolving loan and be available earlier in the project and then that $40,000 could be repaid then from the grant if they didn't need it when the project was complete. "
While Brady's renovation of the former Johnson Brothers Mill Building received an emergency catalyst grant three years ago, the city's applications for the past two years had been denied funding. If the state were to award the grant funding, Sheridan says the hope would be to have the buildings up and operational by the end of the calendar year. Without the state funding, he noted it could take a couple more years to complete the necessary renovations. Other applicants included Dr. Sajda Qureshi, who has purchased and hopes to renovate 617 and 619 West Sheridan, to serve as office and equipment space for her business, Sigma Equity Care, which she currently operates out of her home in Farragut, and Jia Xuan Huang to renovate the structure just east of her business, Win Wang, at 502 West Sheridan.
In other business, the council...
--Approved the 2026 edition of the city's personnel handbook.
--Approved the transfer of property located at 312 East Washington to Charles Edwards in the final amount of $1.
--Approved setting city wide spring cleanup dates for May 14th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., May 15th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and May 16th from 8 a.m. to noon.
--Approved pay application no. 8 in the amount of $27,787.50 to Cormaci Construction for the library sunshade project, paid by the Shenandoah Library Foundation.
--Approved the purchase of a Turbbo Turf HS-150-P Hydroseeder from SiteOne Landscape Supply for the parks and rec department for $5,176.07.