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Preserving Historic District Key to Town - 04:13 PM - March , 2008
With standing room only, Pelahatchie residents and business owners crowded into the tiny community center for a Public Hearing, Monday night.
The purpose of the meeting was to see if there was enough interest in the town getting involved in the Community Self-help Program for revitalizing the downtown area.
Brenda Lacey, Mississippi Development Association Associate Manager, said the Community Self-help Program is designed to help communities address needs such as water, wastewater, downtown improvements, recreation and other CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) eligible activities.
"The town meetings are necessary to see if there is enough interest in the town applying for the grant," Lacey said. "The program uses the community's own resources."
Lacey said these resources can be human, material and financial.
According to Lacey, the maximum grant size is $100,000. The Town of Pelahatchie is asking for $83,000. Of, the $83,000 the town's part is $35,000 which can be accomplished through labor, equipment, and services.
The plans for this grant money is a project composed of two components. One is a Pelahatchie Community Center and some "Streetscape" improvements at Brooks Street and Second Street (Hwy 80.)
Addressing a new community center, Mayor Knox Ross, Jr. said, "We are looking at the Bryant Hardware building on the corner of Brooks Street and Hwy 80."
"This building is near the City Hall and it would provide ample space for meetings such as this," he said.
A report from Waggoner Engineering, Inc. states the Bryant Building was built in the early 1900s and is one of the town's last remaining buildings of that era.
"The exterior of the building is fixable," Ross said. "The inside has had some water damage and is in pretty bad condition."
As for "Streetscape" improvements, the area being looked at is the two main traffic corridors of Second Street (Hwy 80) and Brooks Street.
Proposed improvements at this crucial intersection focus on:
•Safer pedestrian crossings, four new patterned concrete cross-walks with landscaped traffic islands at each corner.
•Replacing and relocating the four existing wood utilitiy poles on each corner.
•Replacing or repairing the substandard sidewalks and curbs.
•Installing new street lights, signage, benches, trash receptacles and landscaping.
Similar work is planned for the downtown area below the Second Street (Hwy 80) and Brook Street Corridor as well.
Ross said sidewalks and sub-standard drive entries and curbs would be replaced or removed.
Street striping, signage and lighting will be added. A railroad crosswalk with be added at Brooks Street.
Ross said the current community center on Hwy 80 would be enlarged and remodeled to house the Pelahatchie Public Library.
"This will give the library much needed room," Ross said. "Our idea is for people to come to the library, grab a book and go to the park and read."
Ross said all these improvements will link the downtown and the Historic District.
"One of the good things about the new library is that it is within walking distance of the school," he said. "And, it's on the south side of Hwy 80. Kids do not have to cross this busy street to access the library or the park."
A time frame has not been established for any construction. Lacey said the town would more than likely get its $83,000 grant.
"We want to protect our downtown," Ross said. "Other towns are building new buildings that look old. Our buildings are original. We want to protect our Historic District's integrity."
"We want to make Pelahatchie a community where people want to live, work and raise their children," he added.
(Taken from an article by Linda Horton in the Rankin County News)
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