By Debby Woodin

dwoodin@joplinglobe.com

Members of the Joplin City Council will consider whether to extend downtown streetscaping farther south on Main Street or move it to Fourth Street, based on a discussion by the panel at a meeting Monday night.

City Manager Mark Rohr told the council during its informal session that money is allocated to do two more blocks of streetscaping like that already accomplished on Main Street between Seventh and Second streets. Rohr recommended that the project — which entails building brick-edged sidewalks and installing new light fixtures, benches and other accessories — not be extended too far or it would lose its aesthetic effect.

On Main Street, the project also has meant tearing out urban-renewal sidewalk islands and converting the space to on-street parking.

There was a variety of opinions among the council members about which direction to go.

Councilmen Morris Glaze and Benjamin Rosenberg said they favored Fourth Street. Glaze said he thinks Fourth Street serves as a “gateway” to downtown, and that stretching the look east on Fourth Street from Main Street would benefit several businesses. He said it eventually could be extended to the city’s Health Department building and the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.

Councilman Phil Stinnett said several businesses along the 700 and 800 blocks of Main Street have made substantial investments by locating downtown and could benefit from the new look. He said the drawback is that there probably are fewer pedestrians along that area than north of Seventh Street.

Rosenberg asked Mayor Gary Shaw if the council could have a couple of weeks to consider the proposals and take a closer look at the proposed routes. The mayor agreed to allow that time.

In other business, the council approved a proposal to give Gryphon Building Co. $175,000 of the city’s federal Community Development Block Grant funds toward the renovation of the former Interstate Grocer Building, which later housed a paper-bag manufacturing operation known as Bagcraft Corp., at 1027 S. Main St. Bagcraft Packaging LLC now is located at Baxter Springs, Kan.

Developer Paul Whitehill and project manager Jeff Neal told the council that Whitehill so far has invested $440,000 in what is proposed to be a $10 million building renovation. Whitehill wants to convert the vacant building into office, retail and gallery space.

Councilman Bill Scearce asked what would happen to the project if the site is not granted status as a state and federal historic building. Neal told the council: “If it is not designated a historical site, the project won’t go through.”

But, he said the project’s consultants and state officials working on the project “have agreed it is very unlikely a building built in 1915 wouldn’t be approved.” Neal said the building’s architect was from St. Louis, and was famous for concrete and steel-framed designs of that era.

The council in the past has not agreed to provide development grants until redevelopment projects are nearly finished in order to avoid giving money to projects that go bust.

Neal told the council that additional financing and $2 million worth of tax credits to address lead paint and asbestos in and around the building hinge on the city’s awarding of federal tax dollars designed for stimulating renovation.