Kicking off June 18, Main Street Columbus is bringing $100,000 worth of beautification projects to the downtown area.
Main Street Columbus Executive Director Barbara Bigelow told The Dispatch Thursday the organization has been planning three beautification projects since 2022 that will advance the Main Street mission of keeping downtown vibrant.
“The main focus is to bring people downtown to support our businesses that are here,” she said. “We just strive to help all of our downtown do better and to keep things beautiful for our residents (and) our visitors.”
Bigelow said funds for the beautification projects come from an American Rescue Plan Act grant awarded by the state legislature this session.
The first project will be revitalizing Leadership Plaza, the small park adjacent to Hollyhocks at the corner of Fifth Street South and College Street.
“It hasn’t been redone in 35 to 40 years maybe,” Bigelow said. “We just want to give it a facelift.”
The plaza’s facelift will consist of replacing the sidewalk where tree roots have caused it to buckle, tearing down the trellis that is currently standing and replacing it with a new pavilion designed with local details in mind.
“The pavilion is designed after historic homes and historic sites in Southside, so it will have that historic look to it,” she said.
Along with the updated plaza, there will also be a new 20-by-50-foot mural installed on the empty wall facing the city parking lot adjacent to Catfish Alley.
The mural, Bigelow said, will be an illustrated rendition of a 1905 Columbus postcard that features street cars on Main Street painted by West Point Artist Deborah Mansfield.
Mansfield, who also painted the mural at the Columbus Light and Water building, said she’s looking forward to taking on the project.
“Murals really add such a personal touch to a town and make it unique,” Mansfield said. “It draws people in. I think the more murals, the better, and I’m happy to do them.”
The third project is an updated marketing campaign to add an audio component to the Downtown Columbus Self-Guided Historic Walking Tour.
The walking tour first launched in 2021 as a way to promote places of historic importance in the downtown area and all of the buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The only problem, Bigelow told The Dispatch Thursday, is that walkers have to read the information as they view the historic sites.
“Now you can read it on your phone or print it off, but we want to have it where you can listen to it and look at the buildings without having to read,” she said.
On June 18, Main Street Columbus will kick off the beautification projects with a celebration at Leadership Plaza at 10:30 a.m. alongside members of the statewide organization Main Street Mississippi and local state legislators. Bigelow said the event is free and open to the public.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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