SALISBURY – A $1.6 million grant is expected to benefit operations at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center.
Last week, the Wicomico County Council voted unanimously to accept a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration in the amount of $1,613,874.
Officials say the Shuttered Venue Operators grant award will be used by Wicomico County Recreation, Parks and Tourism to cover expenses incurred at the civic center during the pandemic.
“I want to point out that is a significant figure for the county,” Council President Larry Dodd said. “It’s well appreciated considering we don’t have a countywide grants writer, so thank you for finding those grants.”
In a memo to the council, Recreation, Parks and Tourism Deputy Director Katie Rouse added that funds must be used for expenses that incurred between March 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2021. She said the grant is part of a Shuttered Venue Operators program that was established through the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act.
“The grant does not require any match,” she said.
The grant award comes nearly a year after the county council had to transfer $530,000 to cover a shortfall in the civic center’s budget.
Each year, the venue – which operates under the umbrella of the county’s recreation, parks and tourism department – receives appropriations from the county to fund salaries, benefits and other expenses and to balance the budget. As a special government fund, the facility also relies heavily on event revenue to make the overall budget work.
At the start of the pandemic, however, Recreation, Parks and Tourism Director Steve Miller came before the council to discuss revenue challenges at the facility.
In recent years, he noted, net revenues have been increasingly difficult to achieve, and each year a larger percentage of county appropriations is used to cover employee benefits. But when the facility was forced to close in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said it only exacerbated the civic center’s financial problems.
As a result, the county was left to cover the shortfall in fiscal year 2020.
Councilman John Cannon last week recognized both Miller and Rouse for their efforts to secure grant funding for the civic center.
“I’m not familiar with all the grant processes, but I’ve never heard of a grant that didn’t take a lot of work,” he said. “So I’d like to thank you very much for getting this $1.6 million for Wicomico County.”
