Efforts underway to revitalize downtown Weslaco
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The Weslaco Economic Development Corporation is helping revitalize and repair old storefronts in downtown Weslaco.
French's Service and Repair has been in a Weslaco downtown building since 1979.
"This is an old building," French's Service and Repair owner Kendall Hill said. "It requires a lot of upkeep and it can get expensive for a small business like ours."
The building, like others in the downtown area, dates back to about the 1940's.
"There's some that have quite a bit of issues," manager of Retail Recruitment and Commercial Real Estate of Weslaco EDC Maria Cisneros said. "Like I said, plumbing and electrical is one of the major ones that needs a lot of updating."
The Weslaco EDC is looking to help and are offering business owners grants to help pay for improvements that business owners know can be expensive.
"We're having a new roof put on right now because of the flooding that we've had in the past five years and all of the rainfall," Hill said. "It was just wearing out and it was necessary to replace it."
The Weslaco EDC is offering two separate grants.
The Weslaco 100 grant covers roof, ceiling, plumbing, electrical, and code improvements and the facade grant covers expenses like doors, windows, landscaping, painting, and signs.
Cisneros Fine Jewelry is also taking advantage of the financial help.
The owners used the facade grant to pay for a new sign after it was destroyed in Hurricane Hanna.
"There's also a lot of growth here in Weslaco, especially in the South, there's a lot of new neighborhoods and things going on," Cisneros Fine Jewelry co-owner Lilian Cisneros said. " A lot of people have to come through downtown so they see our sign, they see all the improvements that are going on in downtown."
The Weslaco EDC grants will match up to 50% of improvement costs.
The funding is available to businesses that fall within designated areas of downtown.
For more information on how to apply, click here.