{"id":13682,"date":"2026-02-03T00:49:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T07:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/applications-now-open-for-citys-beautification-grant\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:39:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:39:53","slug":"applications-now-open-for-citys-beautification-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/applications-now-open-for-citys-beautification-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"Applications now open for city\u2019s beautification grant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The owners of 12 East Main Street commissioned the Sleeping Ute Mountain mural on the east side of the building. Artist Sarah Drummond painted the mural. (Photo\/City of Cortez)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Applications for the city\u2019s business beautification grant are now open, and the city is making a minor but intentional change. Helen West, the city\u2019s community and economic development specialist, said the adjustment aims to spread funds more evenly among local businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a business received the maximum reimbursement of the $3,000 in the previous grant year, they can apply at any time, but in order to diversify the funding, we might not look at those requests until the second round of funding or put them in the very end for awarding,\u201d West said.<\/p>\n

The change only applies to last year\u2019s awards that reached the maximum amount.<\/p>\n

\"The
The before and after: The mural was funded partially through a beautification grant match. (Photo\/City of Cortez)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The owners of 12 East Main Street commissioned the Sleeping Ute Mountain mural on the east side of the building. Artist Sarah Drummond painted the mural. (Photo\/City of Cortez)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The business beautification grant offers a 50% matching reimbursement of up to $3,000 for eligible facade improvements for Cortez businesses and nonprofit groups. Project options include capital improvements, new signage, paint, windows, awnings or decorative enhancements such as flowers or seasonal paint and window displays.<\/p>\n

The city is also rolling out applications for other grant initiatives. Funding options include the beautification grant, a reimbursement program for graffiti removal and the 81321 Launch arts mini\u2011grant, which supports public creative projects.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s beautification grant approval process includes three application rounds, with deadlines from March through July. A potential fourth deadline is slated for September as long as funds last. West said they always encourage people to apply early.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce that money is spoken for, that\u2019s it,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile we intend to have three rounds of funding, if everybody submits their applications this first round and we allocate all that funding, we won\u2019t have a round two or a round three.\u201d<\/p>\n

City reimburses businesses after projects are completed<\/div>\n

The program operates as a reimbursement grant, meaning businesses must complete approved projects and then submit invoices to receive city funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be really clear,\u201d West said. \u201cThey have to go spend the money, turn in invoices and we the city reimburse 50% of those invoices as long as those invoices were included in the original grant application and the award.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, a business awarded $100 toward flowers would need to spend $200 and then submit receipts for reimbursement of half that amount. Projects in 2024 included Stonefish Sushi\u2019s new sign, window decals for Sew by SO, investments for Love on a Hanger\u2019s outdoor wine barrels and seasonal plants, KFR Graphics\u2019 new windows and the \u201cCortez\u201d mural for First Southwest Bank.<\/p>\n

\"In
In 2025, Stonefish Sushi installed a new sign using the company Impacts Signs and Ram Studios. (First Photo\/Courtesy of City of Cortez\/Stonefish) (Second Photo\/Anna Watson, The Journal)<\/span>Anna Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

West said last year\u2019s entire budget of $30,000 was allocated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city was really excited. Last year was the first time ever completely allocated all of our budget,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just want to make sure that we\u2019re diversifying that funding around the city and the same businesses aren\u2019t receiving the maximum grant every single year so we\u2019re spreading the wealth, so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program has evolved, West said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started as a project actually out of the Parks and Recreation department, and it used to really only be the city would buy flowers and give them to businesses,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile flowers are really pretty, a lot of our businesses need help doing larger facade improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funding for the beautification grants comes from the city\u2019s lodging tax, which fluctuates year to year based on tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore people stay in Cortez, the more money we have to spend on beautification the next year,\u201d West said, noting the funds must generally be used for tourism\u2011related improvements and projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping that we have enough funding for everyone,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we might.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graffiti, public arts grants are also available<\/div>\n

The city is also offering a graffiti cleanup grant, which provides a 50% reimbursement of up to $500 for commercial and industrial businesses that were impacted by graffiti. Find more information or to apply, visit: https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/nograffiticortez<\/a><\/p>\n

The 81321 Launch arts mini-grant, in partnership with the LOR foundation, provides up to $4,000 for creative projects. To apply for the mini-grant or find more information visit: https:\/\/81321launch.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

reimburses local spots up to $3,000 for outside building improvements<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19106,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13682\/revisions\/19106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13682"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}