Ottawa Using Grants To Tear Down Homes And Old School

Ottawa isn’t on a coast but is still getting money to clean up after a hurricane.

The city received a $914,000 grant from FEMA to buy and tear down eight flood damaged homes along the Fox River and a $2 million grant to tear down the old Central School along the Illinois River.  Both spots had record flooding because of Hurricane Ike.

Ottawa Mayor Bob Eschbach says they’ll use the space from the torn down homes to expand Fox River Park.  He’s not sure what they’ll do with the old Central School property but thinks it’ll probably become park space.

Eschbach hoped to get a few more million dollars in grants to buy the school property from the Ottawa Elementary School District.  He says they still continue to work towards a sale.