By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer

Revitalization of downtown Fayetteville is spreading off the Courthouse Square and moving down Church Street.

Narrow, in poor repair and unlighted, the street has been known as a blighted part of town and a scene of frequent crime, but officials are hoping that will change with installation of street lights, widening of the street, the addition of a sidewalk and other improvements.

“Sidewalks will help connect all the people to the downtown,” said Sherri Anderson, director of Fayetteville's Main Street program. “It's not just the facilities... we're hoping it will really start a revival and bring pride into the community,” she said.

Residents often have complained about crime and “not feeling like they're a part of the city,” she said.

The city has received a $158,700 state grant and Main Street officials are hoping the city will provide local funds for the rest of the project. City Council Monday was scheduled to choose a company to design the street improvements, but the item was taken off the agenda because the grant money won't be available until later.

If the city fully funds the work, it will cost $221,300, said Anderson, including brick pavers for the sidewalks and early 1900s style street lights.

Curbs and gutters are expected to help solve drainage problems that have often flooded the parking lot and buildings of Edgefield Baptist Church, which occupies the street along with numerous homes and a few businesses.

Church Street will be widened a foot on each side, and sidewalks built on the west side, all the way from Ga. Highway 54 to Georgia Avenue. “This will really bring Church Street into the Main Street area,” said Anderson.

Grant funds won't be available until October, and the work has to be coordinated with the state Department of Transportation, so design work shouldn't be done until about that time, said city engineer Don Easterbrook.

Residents will see more improvements to downtown before then, though, Anderson predicted.

Brick sidewalks and other street scape improvements to the south side of the Courthouse Square should begin as early as August, she said, and landscaping on the historic Hollingsworth House should start “anytime now,” she added.

City officials also are working to find a certified historical planner to coordinate preservation work on the Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House, Anderson said. “We hope to get one on staff,” she said, but the city may have to settle for a consulting contract. Bids are out, she said.

“We have so much going on,” Anderson marveled.

It's all due to the City Council's approval early this fiscal year of a $1.5 million bond issue to move revitalization efforts to a higher level. Goal of the Main Street program is to stimulate business downtown, to bring people into the area for events and activities and to shop, and to create a turn-of-the-century atmosphere through street scape improvements and historic preservation.