Hancock Awarded $50,000 Rural Readiness Grant for a Feasibility Study of Finlandia Properties

Hancock has received funds to study potential redevelopment opportunities for former Finlandia University properties. The city of Hancock was recently awarded a rural readiness grant worth 50,000 dollars by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. The city will use the funds toward a feasibility study and environmental assessment for five sites.

“To help with a feasibility study for Finlandia properties that the city owns but also Finn Hall and the Paavo Nurmi Center. To see what kind of future use there could be. And also do some environmental assessments of the area to be ready for a redevelopment project. I’d like to thank Lisa for helping me with the grant, and we were very fortunate to get it. It kind of fits right in with where we are going. It’s money that we don’t have to spend. We will end up paying about 10,000 dollars for the match portion.” – Mary Babcock, City Manager, Hancock

Hancock was awarded the 50,000 dollar rural readiness grant in the department’s most recent round of funding. Other groups earning the rural readiness grant included many organizations working in the Upper Peninsula including Upper Peninsula Healthcare Solutions, the Keweenaw County Sheriff, the Superior Watershed Partnership, Great Lakes Recovery Centers, and Crystal Falls. Grant awards ranged from a little than 10,000 dollars to 50,000 dollars totaling 852,000 dollars in funding. Learn more about the rural readiness grant program with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity here.