(La Porte, IN) - A downtown La Porte restaurant is getting a whole new look.  Work just recently began to the building that houses Louie’s Cafe.  The cost is being offset with a grant from the city’s Urban Enterprise Association.

Angela Rose, the city’s downtown coordinator, said the structure at Lincolnway at Madison St. is slated for more upgrades next year.  Rose indicated mprovements have been made to over 40 downtown buildings since the grant programs were started by the UEA over five years ago.

Grants paying 50-percent and 80-percent of the cost of façade improvements and other building upgrades are available to qualifying property owners in the downtown.  She said grants are paying for improvements to well over a half dozen structures in the downtown this year, including the building that once housed Hilbish Drug.