A year in the making, Leesburg’s $3.8 million Main Street Streetscape project is finally finished and ready for a ceremonial unveiling today. The project was conceived as a way to transform a tired, blighted section of the city into a vibrant, inviting gateway into downtown. The ambitious undertaking, which runs 2,800 feet from U.S. 27 to Ninth Street, features infrastructure upgrades, new decorative crosswalks, landscaping and brick arches.
At its conception, the project wasn’t universally embraced by the people of Leesburg, who fretted about the multi-million dollar price tag and construction’s effect on small merchants along the street. But city leaders called it an investment in downtown, saying it was more than a cosmetic makeover. They hoped it would be a catalyst for better things in the business district