The goal, says assistant city manager Jon Moore who is in charge of the Main Street project, is to make the entire city a "walking" place.
"Our goal is to revitalize our Downtown and make it a viable shopping area, as well as more attractive to walk," Moore says. "In Richmond, our Main Street is really the anchor of our whole community. It stretches through the entire community. All the commercial districts lie along that thoroughfare. It is what people notice when they drive into town."
Richmond's city hall, school district headquarters and many of its prominent churches are along Main Street, and parkland is a short walk into the neighboring residential areas.
The entire city, including both historic homes and the residential subdivisions, are being connected via sidewalks.
The new look for Main Street includes red-toned sections of sidewalk, brick pavers, trees designed to grow in a column fashion for visual clarity, clear signage, benches, decorative grating, awnings by doors and windows of businesses and exterior improvements to commercial buildings.
Moore says Tax Increment Finance Authority funds, state grants and general budget funds are all being used to carry out the project. He says business owners qualify for funds to upgrade the exteriors of their buildings as part of the new look.
"Main Street is a focus of our community. We're making sure that all areas are connected, that you can walk from the business sections to the residential to the parks," he adds.
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