Springville begins a face lift

SPRINGVILLE — Main Street merchants in Springville hope a $625,000 investment in a new streetscape will slow traffic and prompt potential customers out of their cars and into the shops.

Workers are installing powerlines to energize the new Victorian-style street lights that will brighten Main from Center Street to 100 South.

And as soon as new utility lines are placed underground, two blocks of Main Street will be paved, and work will start on stamped-concrete crosswalks, landscaping and a tree-lined median.

"Trees soften the landscape," said Jeff Mills, the director of Springville's Business Alliance. "They bring a peacefulness."

More business is on the minds of many store owners as the work progresses.

Shoppers who head downtown to shop at a specific store leave shortly after making their purchases, said Richard Holms, owner of Dukes Jewelry.

Holms hopes the new look of Main Street will encourage shoppers to stick around a bit longer and bounce from shop to shop.

"The idea is to make it more pedestrian friendly," he said.

Also, the Downtown Merchant Alliance, which has been trying to improve conditions downtown for several years with Utah's Main Street redevelopment program, wants to attract more eateries to give the district more of a festive, destination atmosphere.

Four buildings on Main Street, including Dukes Jewelry, restored their exteriors to the early 1900s architectural style.

UPS Store manager Robert Mack also looks forward to the downtown face-lift, hoping it will attract more business and slow traffic on Main Street.

Motorists drive past so quickly they are concentrating on the traffic, not the stores, he said.

Although Realtor Daryl Tucker doesn't rely on drop-in traffic where he works at Bill Brown Realty, if more people shop downtown, that can only improve the vibrancy of the area, he said. Bill Brown owns several of the business buildings along the street, including the Village Theater.

"I hope people take advantage (of the improved atmosphere," Tucker said.

No parking on Main will be lost once the project is complete in August, Mills said.

The improvements are being paid for with a $500,000 grant from the Utah Department of Transportation. Springville city also pitched in $125,000.

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com