By Jim Ballow

Staff Writer

The Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.VA. -- People called John Bullock a dummy for spending millions of dollars to restore a 100-year-old building. Now, as owners all around him are fixing up their buildings, it turns out Bullock wasn't so dumb after all.

Next door at Charleston Business Machines, Jerry Lewis painted his storefront and installed a new awning and signs. At the building beside Lewis, the owners cleaned and repainted exterior bricks, caulked joints and repaired and painted their metal cornices.

And across Washington Street, three more owners spiffed up their buildings this year, spending up to $40,000 of their own money.

While Bullock may have started the trend, West Side Main Street has kept it going through its façade grant program. The group easily spent its first $20,000 of matching grant funds in Elk City -- the area of Washington Street just across the Elk River -- and just received another $20,000 Community Participation grant from the Legislature.

Now if owners farther down Washington Street would just join in.

Façade grant money is available for business owners all along West Washington Street, from Pennsylvania Avenue to Patrick Street, said Pat McGill, director of the West Side Main Street Program.

"We got our first grant in 2008, $20,000 from the West Virginia Legislature, and another $20,000 from CURA [Charleston Urban Renewal Authority].

"CURA wanted to be sure businesses in the expanded urban renewal district would be covered by the façade grant program. So we decided to use the state money in the non-CURA district."

McGill uses a map to help business owners know which zone they sit in. "We tell them from Maryland Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue is the non-CURA district and from Maryland down to Patrick Street is the CURA district.

Under the program, Main Street will match up to $5,000 of owners' own investments in façade improvements -- new windows and doors, painting, lighting, awnings, signs and more. But owners typically spend more than the matching funds, often much more.

At Winter Floral and Antiques, owners Steve Duffield and Robert Herrick have probably spent about $20,000, in addition to the $5,000 grant they expect to receive from Main Street, Duffield said. The project is not quite finished.

"We've got to do the cornice but we won't be able to do that until the weather is better," he said.

Contractors recently took down the plywood that was covering the store windows, so they could install new energy-efficient double-pane glass.

Like other grant recipients, Duffield and Herrick followed plans drawn by Mike Gioulis, a design consultant under contract through the state Main Street office. They removed aluminum cladding at the base of the storefront, installed bricks, enclosed a steel column at the corner of Washington and Bigley with brick, and restored an original door and transom on the Bigley Avenue side.

Business owners in McGill's neighborhood (Main Street rents an office in Bullock's building) jumped on the grant offer, she said.

"We've allocated all the money in the Elk City district," McGill said. "We only did one $5,000 grant in the CURA district -- Charleston Department Store, for some landscaping around their parking lot. We allocated another $5,000 but the owner hasn't come up with the matching money yet."

That's a common problem on the less-prosperous far West Side, she said. Several owners have inquired about the grants, and had Gioulis do designs for their properties. But they lack the money to proceed.

Part of the problem is the work can cost more than $10,000 -- the grant plus the match. She showed a Gioulis plan for one longtime West Side business that includes repairs to neon signs, cleaning, painting, and installing new vitrolite panels.

"They don't make vitrolite anymore, so this is going to be a significant outlay. And this is only the front."

Closer to downtown, Jerry Lewis at Charleston Business Machines is sorry he didn't spend more on his building with his first grant, but he's glad to hear extra grant money is available.

"I'll have to go talk to [Pat], see what she wants me to do," he said. "The West Side is looking a whole lot better."

Including the still-incomplete Winter Floral project, about $25,600 in grant money has spurred nearly $64,000 in private investment. McGill has another $35,000 or so to award, through the Main Street design committee.

"The program is a huge plus," Duffield said. "For anyone, the façade grant gives you exposure to qualified individuals with historic preservation expertise. It's a great incentive, especially in a tough economy."

For information on the grant program, call Pat McGill at 304-720-3161 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Reach Jim Balow at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 304-348-5102.