DeKALB – The Hillside Restaurant, a downtown fixture and neighbor to another DeKalb staple, the Egyptian Theatre, was awarded $18,000 from the City of DeKalb to help offset loss of business and correlating damage to the restaurant due to ongoing construction from the theater’s expansion.
Hillside, 121 N. Second Street, will receive $18,075.50 in grant money from the City of DeKalb’s Architectural Improvement Program to go towards pressure-washing, interior light fixture replacement, kitchen and bath upgrades and installing accessible doors.
The improvement repairs are needed because of the restaurant’s close proximity to ongoing construction next door for the Egyptian Theatre’s expansion project, according to city documents.
“As any passerby could observe over the past year, the Palmer Court construction cased extraordinary wear and tear on the Hillside Restaurant facades as well as a significant loss of business during construction hours,” cited city documents in the proposal, put forward by Hillside owners Mary and Gavin Wilson and approved by the DeKalb city council.
It’s not the first time the Hillside has received city funds to compensate the Wilsons for enduring construction.
On Aug. 26 of last year, the council approved a $12,200 tax increment finance grant after its sewer line was damaged by crews working on the Egyptian Theatre expansion, which was also awarded $2.5 million in TIF funds.
The latest city grant for Hillside will go to pressure-washing and cleaning the building’s exterior walls, roof and gutters, for which the AIP grant will cover 10% of total amount of $875.
The grant will also pay for half of the total project costs for installation and upgrades for several features inside the Hillside.
The AIP grant will also pay for 50% (or $4,069.50) of an $8,139 project to replace and rewire ungrounded receptacles such as electrical outlets and light fixtures inside the restaurant.
Half of the total cost for installation of accessible doors will also be paid for by the grant, which will front $7,097.50 of AIP funds for the $14,195 installation. Kitchen and bathroom plumbing upgrades are expected to cost around $10,000 and half will be paid for by the grant.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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