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| 4/22/2010 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Grant helps fund Cornerstone Project
Hope Nealson
Journal Staff Writer
With the latest grant of $75,000, Cortez's Cornerstone Project is one step closer to breaking ground this summer - and anyone interested in what that will involve is invited to stop by today and Friday.
"We have some plans we're rolling out, so from noon to 1 p.m., you can have a cup of coffee and some homemade cookies and we'll show you the plans for what is going to happen," said KSJD Executive Director Jeff Pope, who is spearheading the project.
"We just found out yesterday we were awarded $75,000 from the Gates Family Foundation, based in Denver," Pope said Wednesday. "They fund a lot of projects in our region and have for years. (The grant) has moved us much closer, so we're now within $30,000 of being able to start on construction."
Pope said Cornerstone organizers will send out bids in early June for construction of the project's exterior and west portion of the interior. The $1.1 million project will create six full-time jobs to renovate the old Basin Industrial Bank building, also known as the old Montezuma Valley National Bank building, located at 2 E. Main St., Cortez.
"There is so much energy in downtown Cortez happening, with new restaurants opening and people making investments in their businesses," he said. "What is unique and great about Cornerstone is that it gives the ordinary person an opportunity to make a difference in their community by building this facility."
Plans for Cornerstone include a media center with KSJD as the anchor, a 100-seat performance and community venue for music and theater, and office space for nonprofits and for-profit entrepreneurs.
Organizers look to close the gap in the $30,000 funding by May 30 so they can break ground in July, Pope said.
"When people make a contribution to an enterprise zone project, which we are, they get state tax credits, and in our case, tens of thousands of dollars has been raised and the incentive for many people has been that if they gave a thousand dollars, they could get 25 percent of that back as a tax credit," he said. "Some have said, 'I was going to give a thousand anyway, but because of the tax credit, I'll give you $1,250.'"
For more information, call Pope at 769-0808.
Reach Hope Nealson at hopen@cortezjournal.com.
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