Main Street receives grant for Clinton Boulevard design renderings

By Sherry Lucas

Design renderings of a possible Clinton Boulevard future represent the first step in a process that could ultimately boost the area’s appeal, but it’s just a vision at this point and not yet a formal plan, Main Street Clinton Director Tara Lytal is careful to point out.

clinton boulevard Mississippi

The Clinton Boulevard District and Olde Towne both fall under the Main Street Clinton’s purview.

Main Street Clinton was among three Designated Main Street Communities in the state awarded grant funds by the Mississippi Main Street Association for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. The state organization awarded a grant for design renderings that would show how the Clinton Boulevard area could look with sidewalks, reduced entrances and plantings.

Main Street Clinton worked with WAS Design’s Jared Acy to come up with conceptual designs and overlays that will be helpful to consider the feasibility of such improvements. 

“We’ve just started the discussions,” Lytal said. Bigger issues loom, such as funding and how it fits into City plans and priorities.

“We’ve always wanted to look at ways to do beautification to the Clinton Boulevard District. It’s a little more challenging than Olde Towne, because of the traffic,” Lytal said. 

Olde Towne’s brick streets and old storefronts lend themselves to pretty streetscaping. The newer Clinton Boulevard, developed in the 1950s through 1970s, is geared more to the car culture that emerged in that era, with the emphasis much more on driving and parking than pedestrian traffic. The area isn’t conducive to the type of events that make Olde Towne such a community center. Also, the district doesn’t have a lot of locally-owned retail.

“It would be great to get some sidewalks in there if we could,” said Lytal. “I know it’s a pretty ambitious project. Ideally, you would love to be able to get some state funding to help with that.” 

Other goals for the area include green spaces where possible and just making the district more attractive. Clean-up days, beautification and public art in the form of fiberglass cars have helped already. An antique car, wind sculptures and landscaping give the district’s entrance a boost. 

The project is now in the exploratory stage, to determine its feasibility and gain broader support. A proposed bike lane, for instance, won’t work because the street lacks the width, but other aspects might be doable at some point, and in the renderings, “it looks dramatically better.”

“I think a streetscaping project would do so much to revitalize and improve the economic development of the area…” said Lytal. “We have to see if we can paint the vision, and maybe money will fall out of the air.”