Grant will help transform old Howardville High School building

HOWARDVILLE -- When Vanessa Frazier looks at the former high school building at Howardville, she doesn't see the broken windows or the peeling paint. What she sees is a building full of possibilities.

Now those possibilities could become realities.

A $200,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency will fund the cleanup of the property, located along Highway 61 at the community's heart. Eventually, community members hope the building will become the "Howardville Mega Center."

According to Frazier, the project began in 2005, when Howardville received grant fundings for a community assessment. Citizens were asked what could be done to improve the community and this information was used to create a 10-year strategic plan.

"Some things got taken care of, but other needs couldn't be," said Frazier. That is until now.

The community submitted a proposal to the Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfield Grant Competition. The competition was fierce with some 577 applications received including 175 cleanup projects. Fifty communities were awarded funding with Howardville one of two selected in the EPA's Region 7 of Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa.

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