Shutdown leaves city hanging on grant application
Newport News submitted its application for a federal Choice Neighborhood grant to transform the Marshall-Ridley area of the city well before the government shut down.
But the shutdown apparently has delayed the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s notifications to applicants. Karen Wilds, director of the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority, said the timeline for this year’s allocation of choice neighborhood dollars would have let localities know whether or not they were shortlisted for grant money by early January.
Newport News hasn’t heard from HUD during the shutdown.
From that list of shortlisted localities, HUD will determine finalists, which each will host site visits and participate in interviews with HUD officials. Then allocations will be made.
Last year, Newport News was shortlisted, then named one of six finalists, but the city did not receive any money. The city was hoping to receive up to $30 million to implement a transformation plan for the Marshall-Ridley area.
The grant allocations were announced in July — Wilds said that announcement will come much earlier this year.
Newport News submitted for grant funding in September, making adjustments to its previous application and proposal based on feedback from HUD.
Wilds and city staff presented some ideas for the transformation plan at a Choice Neighborhood Initiative informational event Tuesday evening.
Architects showed a plan for new apartment and retail buildings in vacant lots near Jefferson Avenue and 28th Street to create a gateway into the transformation area. The building in the plans was four stories tall, with the ground floor reserved for business space. Behind the apartments would be single-family duplex homes.
Annual march to honor King set
To celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., people once again will link arms and march through Denbigh.
Sunday, the day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the annual parade organized by local Southern Christian Leadership Conference members will depart from New Beech Grove Baptist Church, 361 Beechmont Drive, and head to Warwick Boulevard, then toward Tabbs Lane and the Sherwood Shopping Center.
Leading the parade this year will be Willard Maxwell, pastor at New Beech Grove and president of the Newport News NAACP; Edna Davis, the vice president of the local SCLC; and Steve Drew, chief of the Newport News Police Department.
The event features speakers, songs and music from local youth drum lines.