On April 16, 2008, City Council passed and adopted an Ordinance awarding a construction contract to Prime Contractors, Inc. for the proposed amount of $8,512,000 to provide construction services for the African American Library at the Gregory School for the Houston Public Library. The Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD) provided $2,400,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to the project. Construction services for the project were completed in August 2010.
During 2009, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee facilitated the awarding of a special appropriation to the City for the project in the amount of $237,500 Economic Development Initiative – Special Projects (EDI-SP) grant funds. The Assistance Award Form for the funding was executed by the City and by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in February 2011. The City did not utilize these EDI funds for the project and now these funds are set to expire on September 30, 2016.
HCDD is requesting City Council approval to appropriate/allocate $237,500 in expiring EDI-SP funds for construction services for the African American Library at the Gregory School and to substitute these funds for $237,500 in CDBG funds previously spent on construction services for the African American Library at the Gregory School. Once approved, the returned CDBG funds will be utilized towards future CDBG eligible projects, and contribute towards the effort of creating complete communities.