Forte Residential and Home Health Care Services, 120 S. Lake St., Warsaw, was awarded a $5,000 Main Street Warsaw facade grant Wednesday.
Elanna Van Meter, president at Forte, said the grant money will be used for work being done on the front steps of the building, which used to be the old post office.
The steps had shifted significantly to the point one step was not meeting regulation. It was a potential hazard and with people coming in and out of the building, Van Meter said they didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
There were a couple contractors that looked at it and found the foundation underneath the stairs wasn’t adequate, so the granite had to be removed without being broken.
“Thankfully, they were able to preserve the original steps and get the foundation replaced and get (the steps) back in,” she said.
The project started about Oct. 25 and should be done in the first quarter of this year. Currently, the railings are being put back on.
Van Meter said the project was originally over $50,000, but Forte has even gone over that.
She said the building is expensive to maintain, but when a project like the steps is done, Forte tries to preserve the integrity of the building.
“It’s helping the community by keeping the building as historically accurate as we can,” she said.
It also benefits the employees and people who come for music therapy services by granting the access that is needed for the building.
Rob Parker, executive director of Main Street Warsaw, said the facade grant fund for 2024 was increased to $50,000. The maximum payout is $10,000. For 2023, the maximum payout was $5,000.
The facade program, more than anything else, is to restore downtown buildings to the historical beauty they once were, Parker said. He said the benefit for Forte is it helps restore the old post office building.
Parker said Forte has the foresight to restore the building instead of taking short cuts.
Van Meter said they’re trying to do the work right so the building lasts another lifetime.