Last Call for the Downtown Challenge and a Grant Update from UDA

Do you have an transformational idea for Downtown Macon? The final deadline for the Downtown Challenge fund of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia is fast approaching! Businesses, non-profit organizations, government entities and individuals may apply. Successful applicants will have a well-developed plan for sustainability, will involve teamwork, will be citizen-led, and will be inclusive. The Peyton Anderson Foundation and Knight Foundation are proud funding partners in this innovative, idea-driven, citizen-led grant program, where $3 million has been available for the last three years to fund the best ideas to transform Downtown Macon into a place that can grow with grace, build upon its good bones, dance to its local rhythm, care for its heart and coordinate and focus for maximum impact. Learn more and apply here.

 

UDA’s Downtown Challenge Update:

 

In June 2016, the Community Foundation of Central Georgia awarded a Downtown Challenge grant to the Urban Development Authority to complete surveying, design and engineering to join the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail with Downtown Macon. The general idea is to connect the Trail with the intersection at Riverside Drive and carry the trail along the underutilized median park on Third Street. The early estimate for this project cost $250,000.

 

With the Urban Development Authority’s board members’ guidance and instruction, we are currently building a plan that will best utilize the funds provided by the Downtown Challenge grant to maximize the vision we have for Downtown Macon and the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail. This challenge puts UDA at the intersection of capitalizing on the Ocmulgee River and Ocmulgee National Monument’s tourism impact and connecting Maconites with their shared history to benefit the mutually beneficial expansion of Downtown Macon.