Funds to help restore historic hotel, winery expand: Marion, Mount Vernon businesses win Main Street grants

The owners of two buildings in Marion and Mount Vernon will have a bit of help restoring and expanding their businesses after receiving Main Street Iowa Challenge grants this week.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded a $75,000 grant each to the Park Place building in Marion and to a winery in Mount Vernon.

The grant for Marion's Park Place building, at 1104 Seventh Ave., will be applied toward a $307,500 renovation of the former hotel's historic features and the conversion of its second floor into the three apartments.

Two new retailers will use the first-floor space.

The Park Place building was built in 1860 and is one of the oldest buildings in Marion, said Brooke Prouty, director of Uptown Marion.

The building originally was the Park Place Hotel and most recently housed an antique mall before Kim Johnson bought the building last summer.

Prouty said restoration work will most likely begin in the next month on features original to the hotel - the spiraling grand staircase, decorative tile and ornate woodwork.

Though several historic buildings in Uptown Marion have received grants for facade restoration, this project is focused on the interior, Prouty said.

'We want to make sure some of our oldest buildings are not lost and to showcase the historic aspects on the inside,” she said.

But the biggest change to the space will be converting the second story to three apartments, Prouty said.

Downtown housing is on Uptown Marion's wish list.

'It's really important for commercial districts to have people living in the downtown area,” Prouty said.

'A lot of the other 14 projects (to which IEDA awarded grants) are also housing-related. There's a demand for historic housing but also a demand for the economic benefits to have people living and working and going shopping in the area that they live.”

Construction of the two-bedroom units is to be finished by spring.

Mount Vernon

In Mount Vernon, Dale and Brenda Broulik are planning a complete renovation of the lower level of their building at 103 First St. NW.

The renovation will create a wine tasting room and event space for Glyn Mawr Vineyard and Winery, according to a news release from the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group.

Brenda Broulik and her daughter, Anna Wilson, started the winery in 2015.

The $175,290 project also adds a patio and a two-story deck to accommodate other residents and business owners in the building.

Brenda Broulik said she was thrilled about receiving with the grant, adding it would help her and her daughter 'complete the vision” for their business.

The Main Street grants were part of $933,300 in Main Street Iowa Challenge grants the IEDA awarded Wednesday to projects in 14 Iowa cities.

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