Forte Residential Inc. in Warsaw received a $10,000 facade grant from Main Street Warsaw. Pictured are Forte’s staff and Main Street Warsaw Member Relations Manager Scott Wiley. InkFreeNews photo by Liz Adkins.

By Liz Adkins
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Forte Residential Inc. in Warsaw received a $10,000 facade grant from Main Street Warsaw on Wednesday, June 19.

The business, located at 120 S. Lake St., recently completed improvements to the building’s front steps.

Improvements were completed in two phases, with the first phase focusing on preserving the original granite steps while replacing the foundation underneath.

“It was a bigger project than we anticipated,” said Forte Residential Inc. Founder Tom Van Meter. “It’s really not what you’d call conventional construction.”

Forte Residential Inc. President Elanna Van Meter estimated the work took about six to eight months to complete.

“There’s always work to be done on a building that’s as old as this,” said Tom.

Forte’s corporate office is located inside the old post office building, which was built in 1930.

“We’ve been blessed by the city’s generosity,” said Tom.

“We’re really grateful to the city and Main Street Warsaw for providing these funds to help us maintain the beautiful building we have,” said Elanna.

Forte Residential also received facade grants from the program in January 2024, as well as in 2020 and 2021.

MSW’s facade grant program is funded by the City of Warsaw. Qualified applicants may obtain matching grant funds for facades, storefronts, awnings, and signs, depending on the scope of the work. The program’s purpose is to stimulate efforts to improve the street appearance of downtown Warsaw’s commercial and business exteriors.

The program now offers up to $10,000 in matching funds per applicant per grant cycle, which may be under one or more grant applications. All grants awarded require matching dollar for dollar expenditures by the owner or tenant.

Applications for 2024 facade grants are currently open.