Moving toward a long-term goal of redeveloping parts of of downtown Albert Lea, the city council Monday will consider a motion to hire a consulting firm who will help to expand the current historic district.

&uot;We’ve been encouraged by the State Historic Society to expand our downtown historic district,&uot; city manager Paul Sparks told the council Thursday night at their pre-agenda meeting. &uot;This would make those buildings eligible for certain grants and tax credits.&uot;

To expand the district, according to Sparks, many historic standards must be met and a good deal of research on each building must be done. For this reason he is encouraging the council to hire an outside contractor to do the study and collect the data on the buildings in question.

The contractor, Hess, Roise and Company, has offered to perform the study for $33,880. The city has hired them in the past for historic preservation work.

Right now the historic district basically consists of the buildings on Broadway Avenue between Clark and Main streets. The expansion would take in the Lea Center building, the post office, the Knutson Building next to the post office and a few other buildings in the area, according to Sparks.

The eligibility for historic grants is not good at this point, because the state has put freezes on most grants, but federal tax credits could be readily available.

A building that receives the federal tax credits turns around and sells them. The tax credits are worth more in taxes than the buyer pays for them. When the credit is sold the building owner can use the money for building improvements.

According to information sent to the city from Hess, Roise and Company, the project would be completed in about seven months, which could mean the buildings are registered on the National Register by the end of August, if the project goes smoothly.