McWhinney donates $100,000 to Rialto Bridge project

LOVELAND – McWhinney development company has donated $100,000 to help reach a $700,000 goal to build the Rialto Bridge project in downtown Loveland.

McWhinney, developer of Centerra in east Loveland, made the donation to help support the community-wide effort to create a “signature” project, according to Jay Hardy, McWhinney vice president and Centerra general manager.

“I think it’s a huge project for the city of Loveland and a signature project for the downtown area,” he said. “When we were asked to invest in the downtown as part of our community citizenship, we wanted to be part of that.”

The Rialto Bridge project will replace two one-story retail buildings west of the Rialto Theater on Fourth Street with a three-story, 20,000-square-foot building with space for both public and private sector uses.

“We’ve always supported the downtown,” Hardy said. “If you look at the sales tax collected in the downtown since Centerra, it’s actually grown. We think it’s important that the public and private sectors are committed to supporting the downtown.”

The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado is raising the $700,000 to pay for a public share of the project to help revitalize Loveland’s downtown. About $600,000 has been raised so far, with the $100,000 donation from McWhinney, the Hach Foundation and the Kroh Charitable Trust.

Also making major contributions have been Home State Bank, which donated $50,000 and offered to match donations from other local banks up to an additional $50,000. Advantage Bank has donated $10,000 and Bank of Colorado has donated $5,000 in response to Home State’s pledge.

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