More than $8 million in federal funding will come the territory’s way for a variety of projects, including rehabilitating buildings in Christiansted to purchasing bulletproof vests.
The St. Croix Foundation for Community Development has been approved for a grant of $50,000 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Rural Development to renovate the old Chase Manhattan Bank and police building on Sunday Market Square, also called Times Square, in downtown Christiansted. The money will allow the Foundation to build a new roof so that the building can be used as low-cost office space to promote private sector investment aimed at revitalizing the area, said Roger Dewey, the organization’s executive director.
"We figured we’d start at the top and work down," Dewey said of the building.
The $50,000 grant and work on the building is just one of the projects the St. Croix Foundation has slated for Sunday Market Square, long an eyesore at the gateway of Christiansted’s historic district.
"It’s been a disincentive for people for a long time," Dewey said. "It’s been a bad face to the world."
Over the last two years, the Foundation has purchased seven buildings in the area and is currently rebuilding a structure on the corner of King and Market Streets using Community Development Block Grant and Housing Finance Authority funds. Over the next year, Dewey said the square itself will be revamped with paving blocks, trees historic lighting and the burying of above-ground utility wires.
Meanwhile, the Virgin Islands Port Authority has been awarded $7,933,379 by the U.S. Department of Transportation to slightly raise the asphalt pavement of one of the taxiways at the Cyril E. King Airport, according to Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen. The project is required to maintain the continuity and safety of airport operations along runway 10/28 and will be phased through 2003.
Christensen also said the Department of Planning and Natural Resources has been awarded $36,972 from the U.S. Department of Commerce to collect manage and disseminate fishery data within the territorial sea and exclusive economic zone contiguous to Puerto Rico and the V.I.
Meanwhile, the Virgin Islands Police Department has been awarded $45,361 by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a component of the U.S. Department of Justice Programs, for its Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program, Christensen said. The funding will be used to purchase 341 armored vests for local law enforcement officers.
"I want to commend these agencies for their diligence in seeking external funding to maintain and improve their programs for the community," she said. "It is especially important at this time that we take a proactive stance in researching available grants and other sources of funding to continue providing quality services during these difficult economic times."
