Photo: Hernando Main Street Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sybonie Swatzyna explains the beautification projects with the ARPA funds received. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
The Hernando Main Street Chamber of Commerce is set to put to work funds it received for projects that will raise the “attraction” level of the DeSoto County city.
As part of the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, Mississippi Main Street Association-designated communities were able to dip into a share of about $3 million in funding. Hernando was one of the communities that was designated for the ARPA funds with approximately $161,000 the Chamber received.
Tuesday, the Chamber held a kickoff party event on Panola Street to unveil what is being planned with the funding. The event location is where decorative lighting will be placed, lighting over a block typically set aside for special events, such as A Dickens of a Christmas and Mudbug Bash.
It’s one of several key beautification projects in Hernando targeted with the money. Others include wayfinding signs, street beautification and park restoration.
The wayfinding signs will help the visibility of local Main Street businesses, cultural and arts attractions, and other downtown points of interest.
Part of the funding will be used for enhancements to Church Park and Kuykendall Park. Plans for Church Park are for new engineered wood fiber safety surfacing, ramp inserts to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements for playground borders, and portable pickleball nets at the tennis courts.
Hernando Mayor Chip JohnsonJim Miller with Mississippi Main Street Association.
At Kuykendall Park, expect new fitness equipment signs, metal workout seats and benches, and an ADA-accessible water fountain.
Chamber plans are also to add speakers to select light poles in the Courthouse Square area so continuous music is being played for shoppers and diners.
The projects are expected to attract more people into the downtown area, as well as beautify and enhance it.
Dr. Clay Morton, part of the committee that decided what the funding needed to be spent on, said the first checks should arrive later next month to begin the improvements.
“The lights on Panola Street should probably start going up in October,” Morton said. “The speakers will be a gradual rollout and the technology for that has to be implemented.”
Jim Miller with Mississippi Main Street added that there are 48 similar projects planned across the state. The $3 million was divided among the projects based on population, but all of the communities got nearly an equal amount of money.
