City makes step toward downtown revitalization

Unification and revitalization are big words with even bigger meanings, and the weight and influence of those two words is spreading across downtown Russellville through the hard work of many citizens. Another small step was made at the end of October to further the efforts of Mayor David Grissom, the council and many others to revitalize downtown Russellville and bring back the historic beauty of the area.

Grissom teamed up with Fire Chief Joe Mansell, Wayne Miller, Shawn Rutherford and others to get the ball rolling on a project: repainting the exterior wall of the New Beginnings Worship Center on Jackson Avenue.

“It’s a team effort, and it goes along with the downtown redevelopment efforts we are making,” Grissom said.

The wall was painted blue and green for what was supposed to be a mural project headed by the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce in 2009 that never saw completion.

“Citizens have been upset with the colors for a while, so I think a lot of people are going to be excited about this change,” Mansell said.

In about five hours one Saturday morning, men from the Dream Center had the entire wall painted a rich, red brick color.

“They approached the Center, and we agreed. The goal is for this to be a community effort to bring downtown back to life,” Rutherford said.

The color was carefully chosen and approved by the Downtown Review Committee to match the mandatory color palette arranged to preserve the historic vibe of the city, Grissom explained.

“We want to get downtown back to a place where people want to come back here, and this project is a step toward that goal. It couldn’t have been done without the Dream Center, though,” Mansell said.

Grissom said he is also grateful to MS Industries for use of their mechanical lift and to Trent Stephenson for use of a paint spray gun.