A beautification project for the City of Columbus is nearing completion. Weather permitting, the new “Welcome to Columbus” sign located on Highway 82 East is expected to be completed by week’s end, said Mayor Robert Smith.
“It has taken longer than we had anticipated because we had to have some assistance from (Mississippi Department of Transportation) in getting the right lane closed so we could work on it,” said Smith, acknowledging that the project has suffered from delays.
Upon completion, Smith said the city will be planting some flowers and doing some landscaping around the sign.
Chief Financial Officer Mike Bernsen said the sign was a line item in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget and $27,888 had been spent on project thus far.
“Some of the items were donated,” Bernsen said. “MDOT donated the land and the marble for the top of the sign was donated.”
The new welcome sign is just one of several beautification projects in the city, according to Smith. With a budget of $25,000, the public works department maintains flowers in medians throughout downtown and the surrounding areas.
“Beautifying the city and keeping it clean is very important for quality of life,” Smith said. “When people enter Columbus, sometimes their first impression is their only impression. People, both residents and visitors, have been very complimentary about how nice the city looks.”
One of Columbus’ most visited areas is its downtown. Main Street Columbus Executive Director Amber Brislin applauded the city for its efforts in beautification.
“Thank goodness we live in a town that is willing to support the downtown revitalization efforts with the support of city manpower, without which it would be impossible,” Brislin said. “The public works department, through the leadership of Mike Pratt, keeps our city pretty on a daily basis. Many of the efforts of the beautification downtown are financed by the budget and fundraising of Main Street Columbus. All of the cement planters, plus numerous other projects, are paid for through Main Street.
“The city bears the burden of the upkeep of our award-winning downtown. The downtown public works crew and the support from the city is the gas for the engine that fuels our revitalization efforts, there is no way we could do it without them.”
Although a lot of effort and manpower is spent keeping up appearances downtown, Smith said the whole city benefits from landscaping.
“People say we only try to make downtown look good, but we have flowers and shrubbery in medians across town,” said Smith. “We have them on Highway 45 and Highway 82. We have them in front of the mall and at the entrance of Bluecutt Road. We got permission from MDOT to cut out a concrete square at the intersection of Highway 45 and Bluecutt to plant flowers there.”
Smith said the plants are changed seasonally and are under the direction of volunteer Tjujan Boswell. Another volunteer project aimed at enhancing aesthetics is the landscaping at the detention pond adjacent to the East Columbus Gym. The project is spear-headed by Amanda Mackay who is doing it to honor her father, the late Doug Mackay, the Ward 2 councilman at the time of his death.
In addition, Columbus is also attempting to keep the city beautiful by enforcing overgrown lot and dilapidated house ordinances.
“We have probably demolished 140 houses in the past year,” Smith said. “We do approximately 500 hearings for overgrown lots. This all coincides with beautifying and cleaning up the city.”
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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