Yazoo’s historic City Hall is showing its age, but much-needed renovations are coming soon.
Other improvements designed to improve the community’s quality of life are scheduled thanks to grants the city has acquired.
Mayor Diane Delaware said renovation will soon begin at the historic City Hall, and sidewalks will be improved to promote walking and safety.
“We want to be a successful town,” Delaware said. “We want to be the best little town in the Mississippi Delta. That is what we are going to be.”
A preconstruction meeting was held last week to outline renovations at City Hall, located on Jefferson Street in downtown Yazoo City. Delaware said the renovation project will allow the central building to be more efficient in handling city business and not being used as “a storage room.”
“We are saving City Hall,” Delaware said. “City Hall belongs to everyone in Yazoo City. It represents who we are.”
Another grant was also acquired to restore the bell tower atop the City Hall.
“We are going to ring that bell because we also got a grant to restore it,” Delaware said.
The gutters and roof of City Hall will also be addressed.
“It will continue to where there is a time that you will not be able to go to City Hall and remove the bricks from the building by hand, brick by brick and stack by stack,” Delaware added.
Delaware said the city also acquired a grant that will improve the sidewalks within the community.
“Right now, the focus of America is actually get to walking,” she said. “We have sat down for a very long time. Now we have got to get moving, and people are moving. But we have to have good sidewalks for you to move on.”
Delaware said updated sidewalks do more for a community than just provide accessibility. Economic projections and safety are also factors.
“Sidewalks actually indicate the economic conditions of a town,” Delaware said. “They indicate that the people of that town are active and engaged.”
Providing a safe route for children to get to school is also a primary focus of the grant, Delaware said.
I think the intent is for children to actually walk to school again,” she said. “But to be able to walk to school, it also has to be safe to walk to school. We live in a period where we don’t let our children walk anywhere because we don’t think it’s safe….”
Delaware said the city is also interested in applying for a grant that will provide WiFi alternatives within the community.
But with every opportunity that comes with grants, there is a process to get there. Filing paperwork and following proper procedures are a must, Delaware said.
“To do it, we have to also accept that grants come with paperwork,” Delaware said. “That paperwork has to be submitted on time. No one gives us their money and says do whatever you want with it.”
Delaware said she would like to see the city of Yazoo City follow the rules so that it can continue to acquire beneficial grants.
“We continue to improve our government,” she said. “Stop making up rules as we go. We have made some improvements. We have been successful. But we have to change.”
