City gets grant for park

The City of Thompson Falls is celebrating a major milestone of the Ainsworth Park project. The city was notified Tuesday that a $381,730 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) has been awarded for the project.

"Projects such as yours help to promote and develop Montana's communities," Gov. Steve Bullock said in a letter to the city.

The CDBG grant will be matched with more than $70,000 that has already been raised for the Ainsworth project.

"This is wonderful," Mayor Mark Sheets. "It (the project) has been sitting there a long time. People have put in a lot of time and effort and nice to see those efforts pay off."

Ground broke on the Veterans Memorial at Ainsworth Park in Thompson Falls on Friday. Susic Construction of Thompson Falls is building the memorial at Ainsworth Park.

A Thompson Falls Main Street Committee event last month raised more than $18,000 of the $30,000 cost of the veterans memorial, and memorial bricks also are still available for sale. The cost is $50 per brick, one name per brick, and order forms are available at Thompson Falls Library, Sanders County Courthouse, D&D Liquor and Clark Fork Valley Elks Lodge. Samples of the bricks are currently on display in Sanders County Courthouse at the Commissioners window.