|
Ironwood, MI has continued its rehabilitation progress with city residents spending almost $2.5 million dollars on home improvements, such as new siding, roofing and window replacements in the past year. Just driving around town will show you a number of local contractor trucks parked in driveways and working on projects. The fix-it/remodeling season is really just getting started, so there should be a lot more ladders, saws and lumber seen in the near future!
The newspaper reports that three residents removed dilapidated structures and the city tore down three more as part of a blight eradication program. Two more homes should be removed once the condemnation process is complete. The city conducted 453 home inspections last year, but would like to see more business inspections happen.
On the business front, Josephson Nursing Home is set to expand; their site plan was approved by the Ironwood City Planning Commission on March 26th. The building will increase from 18000 sq ft to 23000 sq ft and will be able to increase the number of residents from 47 to 67 people.
Progress is also being made on the businesses that were awarded money as part of the Façade Grant program. Pizza King Joe’s, Coleman Engineering, North Light Photography and Mattson’s TV & Appliance are all involved in Phase I with work completed or almost completed. Each business must match the amount they’ve been granted for the building improvements.
The state has strict rules for the bid process and that has considerably slowed down the process of starting the next phase. Two bids are required and there can be only one contractor per project, so it’s hard for some of our smaller, local contractors to get involved. They can work as sub-contractors in their specialty, but they need to work under whoever is selected as the general contractor. The city is working hard to get bids in and get them awarded so work can be done this summer. Here’s looking forward to many more great looking businesses in downtown Ironwood!
| 
RSS Blog Feed