St. Cloud Secures $1.38M for Mainstreet Revitalization, Great River Children’s Museum Among Beneficiaries

(KNSI) — St. Cloud is getting $1.38 million from its Mainstreet Revitalization grants from the Initiative Foundation and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The money will go toward the Great River Children’s Museum, opening this spring, and an East St. Cloud investment helped with the redevelopment of Harvester Square, which recently won project of the year from the Economic Development Association of Minnesota.

Cold Spring is also getting in on the action, with $550,307 going toward a new commercial real estate business in town that will house a woman owned chiropractic clinic, among others.

The Falls Theatre in Little Falls recently completed a significant remodeling project that revived a 1930s movie theater with Art Deco features and is getting $625,774 to help out.

The Initiative Foundation awarded $4.3 million in grants to six communities in Central Minnesota. The grants leveraged an estimated $47 million in hometown improvements.

The Initiative Foundation worked with Brainerd, Cold Spring, Little Falls, Long Prairie, Pine River, and St. Cloud to identify corridors that experienced COVID-19 impacts – from travel and tourism businesses to site improvement to upgrading commercial property vacancies. The Minnesota Main Street Revitalization Program provided 30% matching grants and guaranteed loans for economic and redevelopment needs that surfaced following the March 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses were required to secure the remaining 70% of funding, and they all met the deadline to apply for the special funding from DEED.

“The six communities that benefited from these grants are seeing some major updates and remodels in their business corridors,” said Don Hickman, vice president for community and workforce development at the Initiative Foundation. “We are thankful to DEED for this generous grant support and for the lasting impact it will have on these six communities.”

All projects must be completed within a 36-month window that will close in November 2025.

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