Oxford High School graduate Nick Hottmann is painting a Tuscany-themed mural on the side of the building near Creative Embroidery in the Oxford DDA’s latest ‘Courtyard’ project. Photo by Megan Kelley

Oxford DDA continues placemaking efforts with ‘Courtyard’ project

By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
OXFORD – Downtown Oxford is getting a taste of Tuscany with a new outdoor seating and patio project in the alleyway between Creative Embroidery and Modern Marketplace.
The project, which is expected to be mostly completed by the third week of November, will also feature a mural by Oxford High School graduate Nick Hottmann to help create a quiet and attractive space for downtown visitors to spend their time.
A year ago, the Oxford Downtown Development Authority received a $50,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grant and have been working toward this project ever since.
“We applied for the T-Mobile Hometown Grant and received it this past year, and the reason why we haven’t completed the project yet is because we are working with Les Thomas (owner of the Modern Marketplace and Victoria’s buildings),” said DDA Executive Director Kelly Westbrook. “He had this idea to do this really cool two-tiered deck back there that would give Victoria’s covered outside dining and then the top of it would be for the people at Willow’s Edge that have, I think they’re up to 18 therapists, and it would be an all-season deck so they would have even more space to be able to expand.”
This is the third big placemaking project that the DDA has worked on. Most recently, the DDA opened up the “PatiO” behind Red Knapp’s in the northeast quadrant of the downtown, the funding for which came from a $250,000 Consumers Energy grant that the DDA received last year.
Last year, the DDA also held the grand opening for Washington Square in the northwest quad of the downtown where they have held farmer’s markets, as well as other events.
“What we’ve been really working on the past few years is trying to figure out how to clean up the backs of the buildings and areas and have those as a gathering place for people. We would love for people to want to hang out in front of the buildings and I think the M-24 project that we worked on, it definitely made huge strides in that where we improved the walkability but, at the end of the day, it’s a main highway and we have gravel trucks and it’s loud and there’s only so much that we have control over,” Westbrook said.
“So, our thought process in going to the backs of the buildings was to create these spaces. Not only is it a safe space for people to hangout but it’s quiet, it’s relaxing. What we also know, from just talking with our business owners, is that 90 percent of traffic is coming through the backs of the locations so that’s really where we want to turn our focus now that the M-24 project is done.”
With the T-Mobile grant money and leftover funds from the Consumer’s Energy grant, the mural and subsequent seating area is expected to also feature string lights and an archway leading to the alley.
Concrete work will stretch from Burdick behind the shops to the northern edge behind Covered Wagon Saddlery.
“It will be the same kind of undertaking that we did behind Red Knapp’s; with that beautiful stamped ribbon concrete and it will match and tie in all of that,” Westbrook said. “And then all of that will be a social district and seating area, just another place for people to gather.”
With winter on the horizon, furniture will not be placed until spring but Westbrook anticipates putting in seating as well as a movable fire pit.
“We’re going to call it ‘The Courtyard’,” Westbook said.
The mural, that Hottmann completed the bulk of last week, was painted to give a sort of “secret garden,” 1800’s Tuscany, look.
“They wanted something different and unique so this is where we’re executing that and making it a little bit of a different vibe,” Hottmann said. “The other (murals) have been very graphic and punchy and high color and high contrast and this is more like a subtlety thing. This is something they wanted to do to kind of blend in.”
The mural is Hottmann’s fourth mural in the downtown and fifth mural in the Oxford area.
“We love his work, he’s wonderful to work with, he knows the approval process that the DDA goes through and he always – not to say that somebody else prices wouldn’t be great too, but I think that because he does love the community so much and he values the community, he’s willing to come in and work with us and make it work for our budget,” Westbrook said. “All of our business owners love him. They’ve contracted him out for their own things. So, it’s just been this really cool relationship that we’ve built and I just love the fact that he came in for this mural.”