PERRYVILLE DOWNTOWN RENOVATIONS NEAR COMPLETION

PERRYVILLE -- Work on the second phase of a project aimed at sprucing up Perryville's downtown business district is about a month away from completion.

Concentrating on the four sides of the city square, workers have been replacing streets and sidewalks and installing new streetlights. It is the last bit of work remaining in a two-year plan that has put a new face on a nine-block square in the city's downtown.

City Administrator Craig Lindsley called the results "beautiful."

The two-part plan was initiated in the summer of 1992 with a $1.6 million refurbishing of the streets surrounding the city square. Streets and lighting were replaced, along with water and gas lines. Sewer lines also were repaired or replaced.

Included in the phase-two renovations has been a $130,000 refurbishing of the county courthouse lawn still under way. That has included installation of a large gazebo and ornamental sidewalks and landscaping.

The city has paid the entire renovation bill except for the courthouse work, with the county contributing $50,000 toward that cost.

Phase two also has included street improvements of both North West Street and North Main Street out to Highway 61.

The initial construction plan was drafted by the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission in 1990. The goal was to update the downtown's aging infrastructure to keep businesses from moving out to the Highway 51 bypass.