For Immediate Release                                               Contact:  Melanie Lee
October 21, 2009                                                      Phone: (337) 948-5227
                                                                             tourism@cityofopelousas.com

Back in Time Restaurant in Downtown Opelousas Receives Louisiana Main Street Façade Grant

(Opelousas, LA) – Opelousas Main Street is announcing that Wanda Juneau, owner of Back in Time Restaurant & Gift Shop, has been awarded a Louisiana Main Street Rehabilitation Façade Grant.  The $2500 matching grant award will go towards repair and restoration of the buildings interior.

Back in Time has been operating as a restaurant and gift shop in historic downtown Opelousas, Louisiana almost twenty years.  The building was originally built in 1921 where it first operated as Greco’s Shoe Repair Shop until 1990.  Back in Time is nestled within a National Historic District where it is located across from the St. Landry Parish Courthouse and next to the historic Jim Bowie Oak tree.

Opelousas Main Street congratulates this year’s recipient, Back in Time Restaurant, and wishes to thank the downtown merchants who applied for funding this year. The applications received from the applicants competed for funding statewide against other Main Street applications.

“As a small business owner in downtown Opelousas, I feel very fortunate to be in a city that is part of the Main Street program that offers grants, such as facade grants to the main street businesses,“ said Back in Tome Owner Wanda Juneau.  “A facade grant of any dollar amount is a plus to any small business.”

A panel of experts at the state level is responsible for assessing the applications and ranking them according to the level of architectural preservation as well as the impact on the look of the street, community as well as the Historic District.

The Main Street Program, through the Office of the Lt. Governor, offers facade grants to help improve the appearance of downtown while encouraging good design. The facade grants are awarded on an annual basis.  These funds are to be given to projects that contribute to the commercial revitalization of the historic central business district.  Properties must be located within the geographically designated Main Street area and must be at least 50 years old.