Sam Holder of Scottsville stands in the door of Lindas Appliances on the square in Scottsville. (Photo by Joe Imel)

SCOTTSVILLE The Heart of Scottsville project still is beating, although its pulse is erratic after six years of talk and little action. The estimated $2.3 million project which has the support of City Council and many merchants and citizens, and $650,000 in state money waiting to be spent is supposed to turn the downtown square into a roundabout with a bell tower and park, bricked sidewalks, greenery and 1920s-style gaslights. Work is to be done in four phases, with each quadrant expected to take six months to a year to complete once construction starts. Advocates are relying on the renovation to improve Scottsvilles economy by increasing visitors to the citys business district and making Allen County a magnet for families and industry. But the project also has its critics. Id like for our town to thrive, said Ruth Keen, an employee of Classic Cleaners. But as it is, our customers cant find a parking place. Weve already paid parking tickets for customers who couldnt find a space. Classic Cleaners owner Sue Gehrean underscored Keens concerns. I want to see Scottsville grow, be as beautiful as it can be, she said. But I cant afford to have the streets torn up and lose my customers. If I can see a plan to preserve my business, then I say get a jackhammer and go to it. But Treshia Craddock, co-owner of Scottsville Antique Mall, said disruption is to be expected. For a while it will be an awful mess, but I believe the result will be worth the stress, she said. … Thats why the community is getting together for a core revitalization to get a jump on making the town what it should be. Weve seen ghost towns. We dont want Scottsville to be one. Antique mall co-owner Don Craddock said its too soon to tell how the renovations will affect his business. Ive seen businesses come and go, he said. … Whether a facelift and makeover of the square will give businesses a boost economically, I cant say. As with any town, weve had challenges, but Scottsville is a good place to live. Dorinda Livesay, a lifelong Scottsville resident and enrollment manager for Lindsey Wilson Colleges Scottsville branch office, sees the project as beneficial. One of the first impressions (visitors) form of us is our town square, she said. … I want my kids to grow up and continue to be proud of the town. … I see only positives for Scottsville in the long term. To assuage some of the communitys concerns, Kentucky League of Cities Downtown Services Manager Bobbie Smith has made suggestions for the project. A historic preservation expert, Smith suggested that the city seek community involvement, including selling memorial bricks, basing a contest on some aspect of construction or asking businesses to make side or back entrances to their businesses accessible for customers. Still, some residents remain unhappy about the project. I think city leaders want to make Scottsville the bedroom community of Bowling Green, said Ann Link of Scottsville Dental Clinic. Ive been here since 1961, and I saw the first decline in the mid-70s. … One thing Im sure of is that I like our small-town life here and I want it to continue. Shes not sure that life will survive after U.S. 231 is four-laned to make access to Bowling Green quicker and easier. Dr. Frank Duncan of the dental clinic said his town needs more than a beautified square. We need something major here a super center, more than beautification of the square something large that would make people drive this way instead of out of town, Duncan said. Not only does the city need to attract industry, they need to be looking for smaller businesses, too. Duncan also opposes restoring the square to a circle, as it was before Allen County Courthouse was torn down in the 1970s.I am afraid the days were trying to recapture are gone, said Duncan, a Long Island, N.Y., native. I know Im a Yankee, but I truly like this community and I respect the people here, he said. But its the Alan Jackson song … They put up the malls, a new Wal-Mart. Like the song says, everything changes. We must move forward. Recalling the citys past to become an antique community or a town of doctors, lawyers and dentists might be effective because service providers usually survive, and Id love for the place to be teeming, he said. But if a circle didnt work in the 70s, I dont see how its going to work now. Who really understands how to navigate a circle? I see an increase in the accident rate, and turning the square into a circle makes about as much sense as tearing down that wonderful old hotel, the Jacksonian. The fate of historic buildings was a concern for one landscape architect involved in the project, City Councilman Franklin Foster said. Architect Jeff Broughton saw what had happened with a couple of our buildings that were destroyed instead of saved, and he cared about the aesthetics and preservation of the town, Foster said. Thus, the roundabout idea. Broughtons research showed that traffic patterns in a roundabout are smoother than those on a square. Opposition to circular traffic flow could have arisen from residents who remember the round as it used to be, when the courthouse was in the center of the square, Foster said. It wont be like that in the new configuration, he said. People wont be parking in the middle … as they did then, trying to pull in at and back out from a central building. Instead, most downtown traffic will come in from South Court and East Main streets, allowing people coming in from the north to head off from East Main, he said. For years now, I have felt it important that Scottsville and Allen County have a strong infrastructure, Foster said. We have a good, new waste water treatment plant, a new YMCA and progress continues on the highway connecting Scottsville to Bowling Green, and this just fits into the master plan to grow. Weve solved parking in a couple of ways and, with the new plans, have lost only one or two parking spaces. And the city has bought a lot one block from the square, on First and East Cherry streets, to turn into parking places … .Civic pride is another reason to pursue the project, Foster said. Mayor Dell Hall has received mixed feedback, though a recent meeting about the project was more congenial than those that came before a sign of progress, Hall said. We will have a steering committee appointed within the next 30 or 60 days, she said. Were not sure what the outcome will be, but everybody will be considered.