In May, state officials awarded the Gladstone School District with a nearly $2.5 million seismic rehabilitation grant for John Wetten Elementary’s auxiliary gym.
JWE’s auxiliary gym is located behind the school and was identified in a recent engineering report as one of the most vulnerable school structures in the district, in the event of a major earthquake.
The school district will receive a seismic rehabilitation grant of $2,498,905 for this project at JWE after signing a contract with the Oregon Business Development Department’s Infrastructure Finance Authority.
“We are pleased to be able to offer this assistance to your facility and the community. We look forward to partnering with you to complete this vitally important project,” wrote Gloria Zacharias, Oregon’s seismic program policy coordinator, in congratulating the school district on getting this grant.
According to the Business Oregon website, the Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program is an extremely competitive source of funding for critical public buildings, particularly public schools and emergency services facilities in Oregon. Last year, Business Oregon received over 100 applications requesting almost $240 million in funding but less than $90 million was awarded statewide. The maximum grant award to each district is $2.5 million.