Feds give Grand Rapids $2.5M to fight blight

LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder says Michigan is getting $100 million in federal aid to demolish abandoned buildings to fight blight in Detroit and four other cities, including Grand Rapids.

Snyder said this week that the U.S. Treasury Department has approved the aid. He says Detroit is getting $52.3 million, Flint $20.1 million and Saginaw 11.2 million.

The governor says $3.7 million is going to Pontiac, $2.5 million to Grand Rapids and $10.2 million to a reserve fund for additional demolition.

Snyder's office says the targeted demolitions "represent a major expansion" of ongoing effort by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and other state agencies to clean up blight in Michigan.

Snyder says the "aggressive anti-blight effort will help stabilize neighborhoods that have been struggling for years."

He says work will start this month in Detroit.