Grants will help pay for downtown business upgrades

New signs and awnings might be popping up on storefronts of downtown St. Cloud businesses in future months.

The Downtown Council gave its first grants on Thursday for its new Sign & Awning program.

Joan Stokes and Merri Weis, owners of Mind Body & Spirit Gifts and Books, received $613 to install a new business sign, said Pegg A.K. Gustafson, executive director of the council.

The Downtown Council and the St. Cloud Housing & Redevelopment Authority has about $9,000 to give for the matching grant program. The program reimburses businesses up to 50 percent of their improvement costs, up to $1,000. The improvement must be to street-front facades.