Blackfoot awarded $500K for downtown revitalization project

Blackfoot Mayor Marc Carroll on Friday answered the phone and heard Dennis Porter from the Idaho Department of Commerce say, “Mayor Carroll, the Council has made their decision ... and will be awarding the City of Blackfoot $500,000 in (Community Development Block Grant) funds for your downtown project. Congratulations.”

The previous week, Carroll had presented the city’s case in Boise before the Economic Advisory Council. At that presentation, each of the members of the committee had significant questions, though generally they appeared to be supportive and complimentary, according to Carroll. In fact, Porter commented in the phone conservation that it had been a great presentation.

What was the proposal? It is for the first phase of downtown improvements, and though it will only be for one block of Broadway from West Bridge Street to Pacific Avenue, it will establish the look of downtown and set up future phases to eventually revitalize all of Blackfoot’s Historic Downtown area.

Specifically, the project involves replacing the 5-foot wide sidewalks on both sides of the street and adding two ADA ramps with four traffic calming bump outs at the two intersections. The street will be reconstructed with a new subbase, base, asphalt surface and 6-inch curbs and gutters.

Additionally there will be six 8-foot benches inscribed with the city logo, four trash cans also with the city logo, pavers and six light poles.

The Broadway block was chosen because it is the busiest block of downtown with 18 active businesses. It is hoped that these improvements and similar future phases will entice visitors that come for the Eastern Idaho State Fair and the Potato Museum to also visit the downtown area.

The Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, is for $500,000, but the project is estimated to cost $597,080. The difference is partly covered by Blackfoot Urban Renewal Agency who paid for the engineering costs totaling $86,580. Also, the city has paid Southeast Idaho Council of Governments $10,500 for administering and preparing the grant application.

Estimated construction costs are $415,000, which is less than the $500,000 grant, but in the construction world that is close. By the time bids are requested in October the cost of materials and labor may have increased.

The current timeline is to begin construction in May of 2025 and to have it completed by October 2025.