BOONES MILL, Va. – Boones Mill, a small town in Franklin County along Highway 220 is working to grow and bring new development to the area.
Project leaders hope upgrades to the facades, sidewalks, and parking lots in downtown will one day fill vacant buildings.
“We want to be a destination,” Boones Mill Town manager BT Fitzpatrick said. ”We want people to come off, spend their money in town. Visitors, we want them to come in and see what’s going on.”
New business Boones Mill Mercantile just opened in the area about six months ago.
“There is enough business here, but we need to fill in some gaps,” Mike Meredith, co-owner of Boones Mill Mercantile said. “I mean the location, there’s just so much potential here.”
The town is requesting funding from the governor for over $860,000 worth of facade upgrades and more.
“There will be some pedestrian improvements that will be done as part of the facade work and that will include a sidewalk and more defined parking spaces along Main Street,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick said that’s just phase one. They hope to continue to revitalize the area.
“We’re really excited about it,” Meredith said. “Really hope this goes through, and we just want to see the end results when it’s all said and done.”
Fitzpatrick said he expects to find out if they’ve been awarded the grant money around Christmas time.