Once established, the facade program would be designed to offer commercial property owners within the ACSID boundary, who were paying the ACSID assessment, the opportunity to seek financial help in order to improve their existing business facades. The ACSID would fund up to 85% of the total cost per building,
not to exceed $10,000, while the owner or tenant would be required to pay the remaining 15%.

Armed with a $225,000 budget, the newly-christened Facade Improvement Program set out with a goal in mind to complete 10-15 projects per year throughout the district. The Facade Committee would hone in on contiguous and corner properties throughout the district.

The Facade Committee selected six projects, situated at various locations throughout the district, and now it was time to tackle the arduous task of receiving the many necessary permits and approvals. At first, it became apparent that walking through the doors of design, permitting, zoning, budgets and code enforcement would no doubt be a complicated matter.

But with a promise to the community on the minds of all, the perseverance and hard work paid off, and by the end of 1999, with more than 100 applications in hand, several projects were now up and ready to go.

Time to Get Our Hands Dirty

Prior to the start of the new millennium and with six projects ready to commence, the ACSID's Executive Committee decided that action was needed to overcome some shortcomings in regards to the actual cost of doing construction. Two major changes were approved that would allow current and future facade improvement projects to become a reality. First, the maximum granted funding amount per building was increased from $10,000 to $20,000. This was done with the knowledge that, after years of neglect, $10,000 would not be enough to satisfactorily improve many buildings throughout the district. Secondly, the overall facade budget was increased in order to achieve the program's stated goal of completing 10-15 projects per year.

With these hurdles now out of the way, it was time for the contractors to get to work. The first six projects selected were: Flanigan's Bar, Art of Flowers and Wilson's Agency, 3911-19 Ventnor Avenue; Mutual Taxi and Sonny's Hair Salon, 38-40 North Kentucky Avenue; Steel Horse Saloon, 20 South Pennsylvania Avenue; Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant, 1926 Atlantic Avenue; CrocTails Tavern, 20 South Virginia Avenue; and Atlantic City Check Cashing, 1226 Atlantic Avenue.

The first facade improvement project to be completed was Mutual Taxi and Sonny's Hair Salon (above, before, and right, after), located on historic Kentucky Avenue. Improvements included the repainting of the building and the installation of new signage and awnings.