City of Maryville to build downtown pavilion after receiving tourism development grant
(MARYVILLE, Mo.) April 13 Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced that the City of Maryville would receive a Local Tourism Asset Development Grant through the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
Funds were awarded for a new downtown pavilion and expanding Mozingo Lake’s RV park.
The City of Maryville has revived their local tourism development efforts after receiving the grant.
“Both of these projects have been a priority of the City Council for quite some time and it’s nice that we’re able to secure that outside funding to make them reality,” said Maryville City Manager Greg McDanel.
A major goal of the City is to aid in downtown revitalization by installing a new pavilion.
“I think it’d be easier to bring some of the smaller markets and vendor fairs and things like that to the square without interfering with traffic, interfering with sidewalks, interfering with the typical goings-on around here,” said business owner Micha Myers. “It’d be great to have a spot like that.”
For many businesses downtown, these revitalization efforts are something they’ve been wanting to help attract tourism to the Maryville area.
“One of the greatest things for a small town is a draw to bring people into the community, you know? Bring their weekends here, bring their evenings here, spend time here, spend money here, see what we have to offer,” said Myers.
Many attribute the slow growth of Downtown Maryville to the pandemic, but now that the City has secured outside funding, they say they are excited to get the ball rolling again.
“I think the City of Maryville and City Council has strategically positioned itself for downtown revitalization efforts for the last decade or so, and some of these efforts are coming to fruition now with partnerships we’ve been able to secure in the community,” said McDanel.
But business owners say they hope the pavilion is just one major piece of the entire revitalization process.
“I think I’d like to keep the old feel that the town has, but I’d like to see some classic business styles come in, you know, mom and pop shops,” said Myers. “If we can fix up some of these old buildings and try and capitalize on some of the classic feel, I think that’d be awesome.”
While the City of Maryville has not finalized a location for the downtown pavilion, they are in the process of analyzing several possible locations.
There is no projected timeline on the project as of publication of this article. Stay tuned with KQ2 as more updates become available.