CALGARY -- Lethbridge's latest grant program, the Re-Imagine Downtown Activation Grant, is a revised version of their annual Activity Grant.

The grant, which is being put forward by the Heart of Our City Committee(HOCC), is asking Lethbridge residents to send in proposals for event and business ideas.

The applications opened to the public Wednesday and the HOCC is excited about the grants new changes.

"Previously, it's been focused on events being held in the downtown core," said chairperson for the HOCC, Lorien Johansen.

"But with the pandemic and the restrictions and the vacancy rates, we've re-imagined it to include things that are not exclusively events."

In the past, the grants went towards events like the Lethbridge Jazz Festival and Shakespeare in the Park.

By expanding the grant possibilities, the hope is to have individuals with business aspirations also apply and fill one of the many vacant store fronts in the downtown core.

"Our downtown needs more long-term activity and long-term vibrancy and we're hoping that the ideas that people come to us with are more focused on that long-term sustainability for projects in the downtown," Johansen told CTV News.

calgary, lethbridge, grant, proposals, residents,

The first round of applications will stay open until June 25th to anyone with a business or event idea.

There's $150,000 available for the grant and those who are approved can receive upwards of $25,000.

Johansen is excited to continue this trend and can't wait to see the amazing proposals they've grown used to getting.

"There are no boundaries, no boxes. Whatever you've got, throw it at us!"

The Downtown BRZ is looking forward to what this means for the city following a tough, pandemic-stricken year.

"I think it'll bring the opportunity for our community to come together in ways that we haven't been able to during COVID," said the marketing coordinator for the BRZ, Emily Chong.

"It'll allow people to just come on down to downtown and explore it for what it is."

Chong says they're urging anyone who gets approved for the grant to give them a call with anything they may need.

"The BRZ is always here to help with any kind of events downtown and we definitely recommend organizers reaching out to us."

calgary, lethbridge, grant, proposals, residents,

The City of Lethbridge is also looking forward to bringing back this grant which, in the past, has attracted more than 50,000 people a year through its events.

"We encourage applications from businesses to build on what they have and encourage more use of the downtown," said Lethbridge mayor Chris Spearman.

Anyone looking to apply for the grant can do so by visiting the City of Lethbridge website.