The building blocks of a beautiful downtown aren’t just in the buildings and the shops housed within their walls. When all of the elements are in place, a seamless appearance takes shape and we come to recognize the new-found beauty around us, but it is the small differences that work together like individual brush strokes in a breathtaking work of art.

Over the past few months we’ve been working toward a better future for Downtown Laurel, and we’d like to invite you to take a moment today to take it all in with us.

Each of these projects were funded through the Facade & Amenities Grant. The Facade grant is funded through many of the Laurel Main Street events and projects and through direct donations.

Laurel-Jones County Library Mural

The mural, currently in progress, was skillfully designed by Erin Napier of Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence, located in Downtown Laurel. Erin and her husband Ben are active in all of Laurel Main Street’s projects and have served on several committees. You might know Ben as our lovable Loblolly Festival Lumberjack! Erin’s incredible design work has been featured in wedding magazines all over the country including Bride’s Magazine and Martha Stewart Weddings.

Kevin Jones of Laurel is painting the mural which features a famous quote by Ernest Hemingway, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.”

The mural funding was provided through the 2014 Touch A Truck event. This year’s event will fund a project to provide new landscaping behind the Gardiner Center on Carroll Gartin Blvd in order to improve the appearance of this important area of Downtown Laurel.

Oak Street Pocket Park

Many downtown regulars and residents are familiar with the breezeway next door to the United Way building on Oak Street in Downtown Laurel. Recently, the city removed the rotten wooden roof in order to make the area safe and to bring some much-needed light to the highly trafficked passage, which leads to a large parking lot used by many who live and work downtown.

Through funding by a private donor and the LMS Facade & Amenities grant, the area is being converted into a “pocket park” which will feature new landscaping, lighting, picnic tables and more to come!

The park, located just 2 doors down from Lee’s Coffee & Tea, provides a great spot to enjoy a quiet lunch!

New Downtown Bike Racks

In everything we do, we want to be sure to look towards the future as well as the past. As more and more people come to live within downtown, or within the Tri-Parks Historic district, it has become increasingly important to provide amenities for those who choose to ride their bicycles into downtown. As bike lanes become a part of future street upgrades, we want to be sure we are providing the accommodations you might expect from a larger community, right in Downtown Laurel.

Two black metal bike racks have been installed and are ready for use! The first, located in Trustmark Park, is just a short distance from many Downtown favorites such as Cafe La Fleur and Southern Antique Mall. The second is located on Commerce Street directly in front of the Laurel-Jones County Library; a perfect spot for those riding their bikes into downtown to check out a few new books.

New Downtown Trash Receptacles

Mayor Johnny Magee is beginning a new campaign to clean up the streets of our beautiful city. We are joining the cause by providing 8 new trash metal trash cans to be placed throughout Downtown Laurel. The beautiful metal encasing can be locked to prevent overflow from residential trash or misuse.

The old trash receptacles will be transferred to several of our city parks to help extend our efforts to keep our city beautiful!

We’d love to hear what you think about these changes coming to Downtown Laurel! Reach out to us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter now!