On Oct. 14, the Mary F. Kessler Fund of the Polk County Community Foundation (PCCF) awarded a grant for $15,000 to the Town of Tryon and the Tryon Downtown Development Association (TDDA) for Streetscape improvements in downtown Tryon.

The grant was awarded for improvements to the safety and visual appeal of the New Market Road and South Trade Street intersection. The Mary F. Kessler Fund requires that a funded project include beautification, physical and scenic improvement. According to the terms of the grant, the funded improvements could include landscaping.

Members of the TDDA design committee and board of directors will be meeting soon to discuss how best to allocate the grant funds and how they might use this grant to leverage additional funding for the project.

TDDA President Crys Armbrust stated, We are delighted by the generous support we have received from the Polk County Community Foundation and the Mary F. Kessler Fund. This grant, along with the $12,000 budgeted by the Town of Tryon for sidewalk improvements on South Trade Street, will reenergize the Tryon Downtown Streetscape Project, which had slowed down of late due to recent reductions in state funding for infrastructure projects. &bsp;

The TDDA Design Committee recently completed a very successful project to install a split rail fence along the New Market Road parking area adjacent to South Trade Street using funds and materials donated by local businesses and individuals with the assistance of Tryon public works staff and equipment.&bsp; Anyone interested in joining the TDDA design committee may contact committee chairman John Walters about volunteer opportunities.