DOWAGIAC — Debbe Meyers, owner of the Hairitage in Dowagiac, has spent her career styling hair and helping her clients look their best. Recently, she was able to apply her decorative eye to her own storefront, thanks to a grant from the Downtown Development Authority.

This summer, Meyers had contractors repair weathered wood, tuck point century-old brick and repaint her building.  With work complete, she is the latest recipient of the Facade Incentive Program from the DDA. Last week, a member of the DDA’s Design Review Committee, presented her with a $2,000 incentive check.

Since moving to the current building in 2006, Meyers said it was time that the building’s exterior received work, but she had not planned to complete renovations this year. However, when she learned of the façade incentive, she jumped at the opportunity to make her business as attractive as possible.

“The work was needed and obvious,” she said. “I’m grateful that we were able to get this grant.”

Meyers said she hopes her newly restored exterior will attract customers to her store.

“Being both a business owner and resident, you want to put your best foot forward,” she said. “We want to make a good impression on both locals and the many out of town visitors that Dowagiac gets.”

Helping store owners like Meyers improve their buildings in order to make Dowagiac an attractive place for visitors is what they Façade Incentive Program is all about, said Vickie Phillipson, DDA program director. 

Phillipson said that some downtown buildings are showing their age through rotting trim, peeling paint and other aesthetic issues. She added that the façade incentives and the final days of summer have given some business owners the opportunity to address these issues.

Funds appropriated by council from the city’s economic development budget fund the $10,000 annual Façade Incentive and Architectural Design Services Program. That money continues to be used to restore and rejuvenate buildings within Dowagiac’s central business district.

The Façade Incentive Program is one of many steps and programs the city put into place 29 years ago when Dowagiac began redevelopment of its downtown business sector to allow store owners to restore buildings in a way that benefits both the store owner and the downtown.

Among those steps was the creation of the DDA’s Design Review Committee, which reviews proposed storefront remodeling plans and provides property owners with funds to help defray some of the renovation costs.

Today’s incentive encourages the continued upgrade of storefronts, as it helps property owners address the wear and tear their buildings have encountered over the last 29 years, Phillipson said.

The revised program is being administered on a matching funds basis. Property and business owners are eligible to receive an incentive of up to $2,000 for the front renovation of their building.  Owners of twin or double storefronts are eligible to receive up to $4,000.  Previously, the incentive was only $1,000. 

Phillipson said this year the Design Review Committee will also consider a secondary side of a building, if it constitutes a major presence in the central business district, such as those buildings with facades on both Front and Commercial streets.

Property owners interested in making application to the program can do so by contacting the DDA at (269) 782-8212.