Small Steps, Big Impact: How Local Businesses Are Beautifying Downtown

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Whether you are visiting Nevada, MO, or you live here, the odds are pretty high that you will be driving down Austin Boulevard. Serving as the link that connects 54 Highway, it is a major hub for schools and businesses, and the fastest route from one side of town to the other. It’s important to make it a key focus when it comes to improvement projects, and many are there that we might be overlooking

 

Curtis & Sons Inc. might not have a business directly on the Austin strip, but they saw an opportunity sitting in their backyard, and the results are simple but also impactful.

 

It took only a few phone calls, and other area businesses were ready to jump in and help not only beautify the parking area behind their building but also restore the character and charm that make Nevada truly special. As a town with many buildings dating back to the early 1900s and an area rich with history, filled with community, and working with our neighbors, this small steppingstone is exactly what our downtown needs to thrive again. 

 

W.F. Norman’s new owner, Jason Fleenor, stepped up and donated the custom post capitals for the original brick structure that can now be used for a great photo opportunity and a reminder of Nevada’s history.

 

Andy Remington of Curtis & Sons Inc. said that many of their employees put in the labor to get the project completed, but other local businesses also stepped in to help with the project, including Sutherlands Home Base, and 54 Feed & Seed donating plants and fresh landscaping, and Jeff Coonrod-Coonrod Construction completing the footings. This is a great example of local businesses taking pride and ownership in their community.

 

While there are large projects to be completed, there are also small, bite-sized projects like this one that go a long way in making Nevada a beautiful town to live in. Many people are quick to judge areas they see as overgrown, dilapidated or out-of-date, but not as many are willing to step up and make it better.

 

Let’s follow the example of some of our local businesses and take ownership in even the small areas of our community, and maybe it will catch on, and there will be more resources to tackle the larger projects that need to be done.

Written By Katie Budd, volunteer with the Nevada Main Street Alliance