Kids continue beautification of Columbus at crosswalk near YMCA
"If it wasn't pretty and it didn't look good, they wouldn't come."
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Paint was splattered, smiles were made, and fun was had at the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA.
The youth-led event was a part of the Columbus Main Street art campaign in the historical downtown district.
The campaign came in just in time for the Columbus Beautification project, a Main Street project designed to bring a little more color to the city.
Gloria Herriot has been a downtown business owner for more than 25 years.
She said Columbus is unique because of its vital downtown area.
“There’s some great shops, restaurants, businesses, apartments. It’s all here and people realize that. If we don’t keep this beautiful downtown beautiful then we will lose our customer base and that’s important to everyone, not just to small businesses but to municipalities, our tax dollars. All of it’s important,” said Herriot.
Just a few blocks away, pedestrians will now be able to take advantage of the newly painted crosswalk right in front of the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA.
Mainstreet Columbus and The Y teamed up to make the hand print stretch personalize Second Avenue North and Sixth Street.
Barbara Bigelow is the Director of Columbus Main Street.
She said although the crosswalk is indeed a work of art, its main purpose is safety-oriented.
“It makes an intersection first of all stand out to the public and they kind of know to be aware. And it’s a safety aspect as well for our crosswalks, and those were some of the reasons why we chose to do this and make our streets look fun and just a little more appealing,” said Bigelow.
Jimmy Woodruff is the executive director of the Columbus YMCA.
“Barbara does such a great job, little touches around the city, the Mainstreet area to give Columbus a very personable unique touch art-wise. And the YMCA is here in downtown Columbus so we’re a part of Main Street. We really appreciate being involved in something like this,” said Woodruff.
The revitalization project is funded with ARPA money from the state legislature.
