Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State's Carl Small Town Center (CSTC) is collaborating with a Central Delta town to help it increase local charm, attract more residents and tourists and enhance prospects for the future.
Community leaders in Ruleville have been working with the university center's professional staff to help create a downtown improvement plan. The goal: to help foster a more attractive public area for the approximately 3,200 residents, as well as visitors to the Sunflower County community situated at the intersections of state Highway 8 and U.S. 49 West.
As home and burial place of pioneer Mississippi voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-77), Ruleville--established in 1899 and located about 10 miles east of Cleveland--rightfully can lay claim to being a "birthplace" of the Southern civil rights movement.
After completing the summer-long project, Cari Varner, the CSTC's assistant director, recently made recommendations during a presentation to members of the Ruleville Economic Council and other area leaders. The project was funded by a private donor.
The plan, which later was accepted by the Ruleville Board of Aldermen, includes such recommendations as:
--Improvements to a downtown square park and upgrading of the existing gazebo,
--Improvement of downtown sidewalks, building facades and town entrances, and
--Enforcement of existing zoning and code regulations.
"We picked the areas we thought would make the biggest impact," Varner said.
To begin the project, Varner and two interns, seniors Chris Estill of Starkville and Audrey Trulsen of Collierville, Tenn., toured the community and met with economic council members to learn what assistance residents and leaders desired.
Joanie Perkins, economic council secretary, said members of the community have "shown lots of support" for the plan.
Creation of the park and upgrading the gazebo are estimated to cost about $16,000.
"We already have found a donor to work on the gazebo," Perkins said. "We hope to have it done in October."
The CSTC's involvement in the project was a perfect fit for the community's larger five-year improvement plan, she added.
"Everyone agrees it's the right thing to do," Perkins said. "This is about positive change."
Named for Greenwood businessman Fred Carl Jr., the MSU center is a non-profit outreach and service arm of MSU's College of Architecture, Art and Design. Among other missions, it works to promote good design and planning in small towns, which make up the vast majority of Mississippi's municipalities.
Established in 1973, the college's School of Architecture is the only one of its kind in the state.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information on the Ruleville project or overall work of the CSTC, contact Ms. Varner at 662-325-8671 or cvarner@caad.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.