Charles City tourism committee awards grants for summer projects and events

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Hotel/Motel Tax Tourism Steering Committee awarded grants to area organizations during its semi-annual meeting on Thursday, Feb. 15.

With $20,524 in funds to distribute, the committee reviewed requests to support four projects and events from local non-profits in the community.

Applications for funding began with a request for Charles City Art-a-Fest, which asked for $2,500 to support this year’s event planned for August.

The Art-a-Fest festival has seen expansive growth post-COVID, drawing in vendors and visitors from across the state and beyond, the application said. This year’s event will be held on Aug. 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Central Park.

The event will need an estimated budget of $14,500 for activities, advertising, prize money, entertainment and administrative costs. In addition to the Hotel/Motel grant, the Charles City Arts Center is seeking funds through other grants, sponsored donations and with entry fees and t-shirt sales.

The committee approved the request in a unanimous vote with the exception of Arts Center Director Emily Kiewel, who abstained from voting.

For the next application, Tad Barry explained his request on behalf of the Charles City Baseball Club, which is asking for $8,600 to go toward updates to Lions Field and Sportsman’s Park.

The baseball club is planning to host two tournaments this year, June 29-30 and July 6-7, and plans to expand the draw of these tournaments by getting sanctioned with the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA).

“There are upgrades that need to happen in order to host an official tournament,” said Barry.

Along with $10,000 in field upgrades, USSSA sanctioning will require $1,600 in registration fees and $10,000 for umpires.

Barry said that with USSSA sanctioning, the club should be able to draw in a full 32 teams for the summer tournaments, bringing in roughly 1,000 players and spectators to Charles City for the weekend-long events.

This is the first time that the baseball club has requested funds from the steering committee, asking for $8,600, roughly a third of the project’s projected $24,600 total budget.

The committee approved the request with a unanimous vote, with the exception of Sandi Barry, who abstained.

Moving on, the Floyd County Fairgrounds requested $7,500 to go toward the cost of installing sidewalk connecting the Youth Enrichment Center and Swartzrock Community Center to the wedding barn.

The fairgrounds has become an increasingly popular site for weddings, the application said, hosting 20 last year and already having 23 on the calendar for this year, generally ranging from between 250 and 500 people.

The Fair Board has an estimate from DeBoest Concrete to install a six-foot wide sidewalk at a cost of $11,500. The board has already earmarked $4,000 generated from its Comedy Night event for the project. The $7,500 grant, which was approved by the committee, will cover the rest.

Finally, the Floyd County Historical Society and Museum requested $1,500 to go toward this year’s Heritage Fest.

Scheduled for July 27, the community event held in Andres Park has attracted hundreds of people to enjoy old-fashioned games, crafts and entertainments.

“I thought it went really well last year and I hope it’s bigger and better this year,” said museum Director Mckenna Lloyd.

Coming up for this year’s event, Lloyd said she wants to add new activities, including a petting zoo, to draw in even more visitors.

The Historical Society has already received a grant from the First Citizens Charitable Foundation and is seeking funds from the Charles City Community Foundation along with other donations and sponsorships to support the event’s $4,550 budget.

The committee approved the grant, along with the others, allocating all but $424 of its allotted funds for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Applications for the next round of grants will be due by Aug. 30, to be awarded within the first couple weeks of September.