For more than a decade, Nicole Diaz’s Hair Salon in Plano has been providing customers with the flair and touch of style to look their best. After receiving a building improvement grant from the city, her storefront received a unique beauty makeover.
To help local businesses thrive in historic buildings along downtown, the city government offers a facade improvement program.
Diaz, owner of Possibilities Hair Salon at 12 E. Main St. in Plano, said she was thrilled to jump at the opportunity to have part of the cost of improving the building covered. The City will provide 50% matching grants to business owners and commercial building owners to construct building facade upgrades. This program covers up to $5,000.
“We always receive compliments from our customers on the final improvements and are very proud of our work,” says Diaz. “We painted the entire front facade and refreshed the awning roof. It’s beautiful. The metal awning really makes the whole building pop.”
Diaz said he had been planning to improve the 1930s building for some time, but was waiting for the best opportunity after the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the total cost of the improvement project was about $4,000, with the city paying $1,900.
The city is offering grants to all businesses within the downtown and Route 34 business district.
Plano Mayor Mike Rennels said the program is intended to stimulate investment and development in the area and ensure continued upgrades of older buildings and infrastructure in the area. He said six businesses are using the grant to make improvements to their buildings, but he hopes more business owners will seize the opportunity.
“The hope is to create a bandwagon effect so that businesses can use the grants to spruce up their appearance, and perhaps neighboring countries will do the same,” Rennels said. “We certainly want to help people improve the overall appearance of the downtown area in a passive way like this.”
Since opening his store 14 years ago, Diaz has been embraced by a welcoming community since moving to the area nearly 40 years ago, and has been able to lay the foundation for the area’s future. He said he was happy.
“This is my community. I’ve given so much to the community. I appreciate all the people and I love downtown so much,” Diaz said. “It’s great that Plano is bringing business support to the community and local owners can leverage that to make improvements and create a more attractive area.”
