Published: December 29, 2007 02:14 pm      

It begins with a bucket of paint

By Samantha Swindler

OK folks, this is it, a chance for paint, awnings and new windows on Corbin’s Main Street.

The Main Street program is seeking applications from businesses who want to be involved in the “Let’s Paint the Town” and CITY (Community Initiatives in Tourism for You) programs offered by TOUR Southern & Eastern Kentucky. Main Street will hold an informational meeting about the program at noon Jan. 9 at city hall for merchants and property owners in the downtown district.

I’m optimistic about this project, because throughout this first year, Main Street has operated on a limited budget, requesting city funding and private-sector sponsors for events. Now, we have the opportunity to apply for grant money that will give up to $3,000 (through Let’s Paint the Town) or $10,000 (through the CITY grant) per building to spruce up downtown.

We all have visions of a bright, freshly painted downtown with new sidewalks, new lighting and public spaces. It will happen... with time. The CITY grant offers money for streetscaping projects, but since Corbin is still working on finishing its “master plan” we aren’t eligible for those projects.

But right now, we have a chance to make at least a smaller impact. Fix a few broken windows. Paint a few store fronts. Install a few new awnings.

It has to start somewhere.

But it has to start with community interest.

Let’s Paint the Town and the CITY programs give money for materials (which add up quickly), but the purpose of the program is to encourage community involvement, so businesses and Main Street program members should be seeking volunteers to pick up paint brushes and hit downtown. The grant will cover costs for the materials to paint a mural, for example, but not the cost of hiring an artist. (So, any non-starving artists, give me a call.)

Corbin can have a unique, thriving downtown, but it’s going to take community support. If the support’s not there, well, so be it. The people have spoken. Our proudest landmark can be our new Applebee’s and the attractions along I-75, instead of the one-of-a-kind buildings erected by Corbin’s founders.

But I have one specific, secret wish. (No longer a secret, now, I guess.)

The former First United Methodist Church and current home of McBurney’s Designs is up for sale. This is one of the few buildings that still has original architecture and cultural significance, and I would like to see it used for an arts center before it is sold for God-knows-what purpose in the private sector.

The stage could hold concerts and performances. The building could house local art and historical collections.

We could showcase our railroad history and give tourists another side of Corbin to see just a mile from the Kentucky Fried Chicken that draws them in by the bus-full.

The city could apply for grants for part of the purchase price of an arts center. And, yes, there is tons of parking on Depot Street.

Every other city in the Tri-County has an invaluable asset in its downtown — a county courthouse. But Corbin needs a different kind of anchor to make people stop on Main Street, and an arts center is something the other towns haven’t capitalized on — yet.

The one tiny detail that may be a problem in this plan: the building is owned by Steve McBurney, member of the Tourism Board and son of the current mayor. There’s no problem with the people involved, mind you, only the touchy situation of kinship.

But, I’d like to believe that if public support were there, if the price was reasonable, and if everyone saw what a historically significant building we have in that church, well, it wouldn’t be all that odd for the city to purchase property from the mayor’s son.

And it would be just plain silly for us not to put an arts center there if the only thing blocking the project was who the owner’s daddy is.

You can’t revitalize downtown unless the community wants to visit downtown. But, (I know I’ve written about this before) if Main Street suffers, what history, what heart will Corbin have?

How many Corbinites felt proud the first time they saw the newly restored Engineer Street bridge? I know I did.

And that’s just a taste of it. It’s going to get better.

It starts with buckets paint and a community of volunteers.