The Albert Lea City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved implementing a new grant and loan program intended for South Broadway Avenue.

The program, which would include a 1-to-1 ratio of public to private funds up to $10,000, would provide assistance to owners of commercial property on South Broadway Avenue from College Street to Todd Avenue.

The funding would help building owners with repairing and replacing windows and doors, masonry repair and replacement, awnings, lighting, signage, painting, an architect’s plan and estimate, other approved exterior improvements, excluding roofs, interior modifications required to complete facade improvements and landscaping improvements as visible from South Broadway.

The project is an extension and is meant to compliment the Broadway Ridge Historic District Grant for the city’s National Commercial Historic District. South Broadway is listed as a high-priority redevelopment area.

A Dec. 20 meeting regarding the program drew about five people, said City Manager Chad Adams.

Third Ward Councilor George Marin discussed a similar program in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, which did not require a matching grant, and he asked the council to consider a broader application of grant funds in the future.

“There’s some businesses that would have difficulty coming up with the match dollars,” Marin said.

The policy and funding for the South Broadway program is expected to be in place until the end of 2021.

City staff is also recommending a similar program extension to the East Main Street corridor once road improvements are made in either 2020 or 2021.

Expenditures such as roofs, tinted windows, parking areas, inventory and equipment, operating expenses, non-fixed improvements and general maintenance are not eligible under the program.

Mayor Vern Rasmussen Jr. said he is excited about the program.

“It’s a corridor that we all really want to reclaim in our community, and I’m excited about the opportunities that hopefully it will give some of those business owners that maybe have been teetering on the fence,” he said. “We’ve seen some renewals down there already, and it’s really starting to take a little bit better shape. I’m excited about the possibility of this moving forward.”