PROVO — Kurt Peterson owns a home in central Provo in a neighborhood where some of the city's oldest homes are treated like apartment buildings, stuffed full of college students or other renters.

Peterson passionately lobbies the City Council to encourage more homeowners to live in their homes rather than rent them to others, so he had reason to celebrate this week when Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, announced a federal grant of nearly $1 million is headed to Provo for the Pioneer Neighborhood Revitalization project.

"The money will bring in new anchor families to my neighborhood," Peterson said. "We need those families to strengthen our neighborhood, strengthen our schools and bring in more families in the long run. It helps a great deal."

Peterson is the Joaquin Neighborhood chairman. The other central city or Pioneer neighborhoods are Dixon, Timpanogos, Franklin and Maeser.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant of $994,000 will be available to the city on July 1, said Paul Glauser, director of Provo's redevelopment agency. Glauser said the money would be used to upgrade homes in the city center and otherwise promote homeownership.

The funds will make available to anyone an incentive program previously available only to lower-income families. The program gives downpayment assistance to potential homeowners if they purchase a home in the Pioneer neighborhoods.

Glauser said the city has assisted 155 new homebuyers in the downtown neighborhoods since 2000.

"It was a great day when we learned our congressional delegation had helped us get this money and expand the program to a broader cross-segment of the population," Glauser said.

Congress appropriated the funds nearly two years ago, Glauser said, and Provo learned the money would be available for sure a year ago Friday. A formal application was filed in December. HUD needed to complete an environmental study and other paperwork before it could make the funds available.

"This is great news for the city of Provo," Cannon said. "This project will lead to new opportunities for homeownership and increased economic stability in the downtown area. Homeownership is so very important, not only for the city's economic well-being but for community stability as well. These funds will go a long way to making that happen."

Peterson offered some evidence that the Pioneer Neighborhood Revitalization project is working at a recent City Council meeting. He said the number of homes occupied by owners increased by 6.6 percent from 1990 to 2000, based on the 2000 Census. That did not include the 155 families helped since 2000 through the downpayment incentive.