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Kensington Digital Media received a second $10,000 facade grant from Main Street Warsaw Monday.
Kensington Media received their first facade grant in December 2025 for $10,000 for the first phase of the work planned for the exterior of the building.
Phase one of the project included pulling off the old wood siding and putting on new metal siding and pulling off the old awning and signage, for a cost of $85,000, according to Woody Zimmerman, general manager and chief operating officer for Kensington Media.
Phase two of the project, which Kensington received the grant for Monday, was to add tiles across the top of the building to modernize the look of the facade, Zimmerman said. The cost of the project was $25,000.
Zimmerman said the tiling work was started in July and took about a week and a half.
Kensington Media is also looking to do more work on the facade in the future, which will include putting in windows from the floor to the ceiling, doors, an awning, signage and the pergola. Zimmerman gave an estimate of about $125,000 for that work. He said that portion of the work on the facade will be done in 2027.
Zimmerman said the previous facade was “very ugly,” with the siding from the 1970s or 1980s and the work was overdue.
“We want a building that people are going to be proud to work in. We want a building that the city is going to be proud of,” he said.
“Our investment in this building is about two things: creating a workplace our team is proud of and contributing to the beauty and energy of our downtown community. The facade grant helps to make this possible,” Zimmerman said via email.
Zimmerman said Monday, Kensington employees are very happy they have a modern looking building they can come in and work in.
The funds for the facade grants come from the city of Warsaw, but Main Street Warsaw manages them.
The facade grant program started over 20 years ago when the Hyett Palma Study recommended it. When it started out, grants were maximized at $5,000 and a total of $25,000 was awarded.
When Doyle Hyett and Dolores Palma returned in 2023 to do another study, they recommended the city increase the facade grant and the city doubled the amount to a total of $50,000 with grants of up to a maximum of $10,000 each.
For more information about the facade grants and applying, visit the website at https://www.warsawcdc.org/about/grants-loans/facade-grant/.
