By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY ó Federal housing officials will visit Salisbury this week to advise local leaders as they compete for up to $30 million to transform the West End community.
The team from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offices in Washington, D.C., and Greensboro will spend all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning participating in brainstorming and planning sessions.
The federal officials are making a site visit as Salisbury prepared to compete for a Choice Neighborhoods Grant.
The city and the Salisbury Housing Authority in March won a $170,000 planning grant to compile the application, which will take more than a year.
The vision of Sam Foust, director for the Salisbury Housing Authority, includes demolishing and rebuilding Civic Park Apartments and redeveloping the surrounding neighborhood.
The HUD team visit will be led by Marianne Nazzaro from the D.C. office.
Foust has invited members of all partner organizations involved in the grant application process to attend as many events as possible. The site visit begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Salisbury Housing Authority and ends at 7:30 p.m. at the West End Community and Business Center.
The wrap-up conference and exit summary will run from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m. Wednesday at the Salisbury Housing Authority.
The HUD team also will make a public presentation Tuesday during the Salisbury City Council meeting, which begins at 4 p.m.
A stakeholders meeting is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the West End Community and Business Center.