Momentum could be returning to an effort to spruce up the Court Place Plaza in downtown St. Joseph.

Court Place Plaza is a gathering space on the east side of Main Street near Court Street and Pleasant Street. In 2022, Cornerstone Alliance began working with the city on a plan to add some lighting, tables, benches, and planters to the site, but a state grant being pursued at the time was not awarded.

At this week’s meeting of the St. Joseph Downtown Development Authority, city Development Director Kelly Ewalt brought the matter up again as a new funding opportunity is approaching.

Cornerstone Alliance’s Andrew Haan said the organization previously pledged $25,000 to improve the site if both the DDA and the city would also pledge $25,000, for a total of $75,000. With that, a state match could be pursued via a crowdfunding campaign to reach $150,000.

Haan said right now, it’s a matter of matching the plan to the available funds as the next round of funding nears.

“We just need to figure out how many picnic tables and how many chairs and how many of these things we can fit,” Haan said.

Haan said Cornerstone Alliance is working to get the project’s budget “down to the penny.”

The goal is to give people a reason to congregate there. More could be known about the funding options in the fall. Haan said Cornerstone hopes to see development and a ribbon cutting in the plaza before the end of the year.

The DDA then moved to recommend the approval of a management agreement for the project with Cornerstone Alliance. It could next go to the full city commission.