LANSING, Mich. — Lansing is asking for more than $7 million from the federal government to pay for five projects in the city.
“We’re going to apply for all the federal funding we can, bring it back to Lansing and we’re excited that these dollars are available and we can compete for them,” Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said.
The city submitted applications for Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin’s community funded projects. This year, Slotkin’s team was able to secure $16 million to pay for projects in communities that are a part of Michigan’s 8th District.
“We originally submitted applications for 32 or 33 projects, but we had to narrow it down because we’re not the only community in her district, so they asked so we narrowed it down to five that we thought would be more beneficial to the community,” Schor said.
The Ovation music and arts venue was one of the five projects that the city submitted to the community funded projects initiative. We’re told it could cost up to $20 million to build the venue, and the city is hoping Slotkin can provide $5 million.
“ This concert venue is tremendously important to our city, our downtown and to our region,” Schor said.
The city asked for $750,000 to go towards infrastructure downtown, like repairing side walks and lighting repairs, $495,000 to install splash pads at parks an $500,000 for safety equipment for the fire department.
Schor said there’s a flooding issue in some parts of the city, so he requested $500,000 to help.
“We want to provide these devices that prevent back flow,” he said. “So if a flood or a storm over flows the primary pipes, these devices flow water into other areas.”
