CALDWELL, Texas — The City of Caldwell and Caldwell Main Street partnered to begin renovations in downtown Caldwell, part of their ongoing revitalization efforts.
- The city and non-profit organization are replacing planters, sidewalks, railing and benches in downtown Caldwell.
- The first phase requires about $15,000, according to Director of Administrative Services Forrest Williams.
- Phase 1 of the project is expected to be complete in the next 2-3 weeks.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“The downtown area has pretty much had the same look."
That was until a few weeks ago for Kimberlin Moore who has lived here for 30 years…
Now, she’s seeing yellow tape around downtown Caldwell.
I met with Director of Administrative Services Forrest Williams who tells me it’s just part of phase one of revitalization.
“Ultimately, the planter boxes like was kind of the initial phase of it, and then, we'll be doing some re-doing the sidewalks and trying to make more accessible, ADA compliant," he said.
It’s through a partnership with the city and a local nonprofit, Caldwell Main Street — only using $15,000 for the first phase.
And the goal —
“I think the biggest thing is like we want people to see that we're actively taking part in maintaining but also improving our downtown and trying to encourage people to come to our local businesses and events that we have," Williams said.
Some residents on Facebook commented about the project saying that it was quote: “careless wasted money.”
But Williams says some of the money was already set aside in the 2024 budget.
“We actually did budget in the city's budget to make an imprint on the sidewalk repairs that would have to be done,“ Williams said.
Kimberlin tells me she replied to some comments, sharing her opinion.
"Caldwell — we have downtown area, it's off the beaten path off the main highway. But i think, you know, as more things are progressing with the matrix, we're gonna start making more movement here. I think people will come into downtown more often and see what mobile has to offer because there really is a lot in the downtown area," Kimberlin said.
