FERRIDAY, La. – Ferriday officials have been notified that they will receive a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help renovate the vacant Pasternack Building.

The town should receive the grant money in September, Mayor Glen McGlothin said Tuesday.

Ferriday has also applied for a $280,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help renovate the building but has not yet gotten word of the status of that request.

&uot;But getting this (HUD) grant makes us look good as far as this USDA grant is concerned,&uot; McGlothin said. &uot;Getting one grant was contingent on getting the other.&uot;

The town is considering using the building, once it is renovated, to house senior citizens’ activities. As it now stands, such activities take place in the Ferriday Senior Citizens’ Center in a former school building.

The rest of the building could be used as a mini-mall or a business incubator to house startup businesses, McGlothin said.

The Pasternack family donated the building, which is located on First Street, to the town in November.

The building housed a variety of businesses – such as furniture, clothing, grocery, hardware and drug stores – before closing in 1983.