Oregon City Council OKs final 2 facade grants of fiscal year

OREGON – Two Oregon businesses are getting help from the city to improve their facades.

Oregon City Council members approved two applications for the city’s Facade Improvement Matching Grant Program during their March 12 meeting.

The first was for Michelle Mongan, of M. Mongan Decor, for $3,732.23 to redo the business’ front signs. M. Mongan Decor is at 1000 Pines Road, Oregon.

“I think this is a good investment for the city, which is why I’ve advocated for this,” City Manager Darin DeHaan said. “There’s additional space inside [the business] and I’m starting to work with them on kind of a vision for new business, whether it’s retail or something else coming in there.”

The second facade grant went to Richard Haan of Bela’s Café for $5,000 to go toward masonry and window repairs. Bela’s Café is at 317 W. Washington St., Oregon.

“Initially, they were looking at doing stucco, [but] the nice thing is, once we took a shot on Google Earth down that lane, Richard saw all of the brick and the beauty of our historic district and was willing to invest a little bit more money,” DeHaan said. “So I think these are appropriate funds to help him get that look back to the way we would like it.”

These were the final two facade grants for fiscal 2024, DeHaan said.