A $590,000 federal grant announced Thursday will help Seymour take another step in the downtown revitalization process.

The city plans to use the grant to improve the area around One Chamber Square on Chestnut Street just south of the CSX rail line.

The project consists of enhancing sidewalks and curbing, upgrading lighting and electrical services and creating a community space that includes seating and interactive features such as an outdoor musical play installation and large exploration boulders.

The grant announcement was made by Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch. Seymour and 18 other rural communities received $10.8 million in Community Development Block Grant funds.

Mayor Craig Luedeman said the project is something the city has been working on for the past 10 years, and it ties in with the grand vision for the downtown.

“We want to make downtown a place where people come and stay and not just pass through,” he said. “And we want to make it convenient for them.”

Becky Schepman, executive director of Seymour Main Street, said she was on Cloud 9 after learning the city had received the grant early Thursday morning.

She said when she didn’t hear from the state about the grant, she assumed it had been denied again. The city initially applied for the grant in July 2018, but it was denied.

 

Read Friday’s edition of The Tribune for more on this story.