Daily Local News -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 9/30/2003
Last Visited: 10/1/2003
"It's because of the property and business owners that this program has been a success," April Ennis-Pierson, OMI manager, said."The DCED made this possible and it sees this is a good place to spend its money.Our purpose is to bring these buildings back to life ... and it's working."
To date, 12 fa--ade improvements have been completed.Ennis-Pierson announced the 13th recipient, the Lighthouse Youth Center, at the awards program.
The youth center will be doing a large restoration project to return the building to its original style, Ennis-Pierson explained.The center plans to begin the project in the near future.
OMI still has $14,000 in approved grant funding available."We're looking at three big properties to fund," said Ennis-Pierson.
While some projects are larger than others, even the smaller projects benefit the appearance of the Main Street area.
"The cost of paint, an awning ... it may be inexpensive, but it has a huge impact ... it speaks volumes.People enjoy seeing the improvements and they comment about them all the time," Ennis-Pierson said.
Scaffolding, painters and construction work on the streets of downtown Oxford are pleasant sights to Ennis-Pierson."I am happy when I see scaffolding up, work going on and all kinds of stuff happening.Yes, I'm pretty happy to have all that going on," she said.