Following groundwork that was started in 1996, The Olive Branch Old Towne Preservation and Development Association was founded in early 1997. The corporate charter was issued by the State of Mississippi on May 16, 1997. The IRS granted 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status on June 19, 1998. A full-time Old Towne Director was hired in June of 1998. Early in The Association's existence, successful efforts were initiated which led to the establishment of a special C-5 Old Towne Zoning District, getting City Government to enact Old Towne Architectural and Design Standards, establishing an Old Towne Design Review Committee and implementing a facade and exterior low-interest loan program funded by nine (9) local banks to encourage rehabilitation of the Old Towne buildings.

During the relatively short existence of The Association, significant progress has been made in areas of landscaping, signage, the installation of pedestrian-friendly amenities in Old Towne and the building of a solid organization supported by City Government, the citizenry at large and the merchants and property owners of Old Towne. The monthly Old Towne newsletter, "From the Roost" sent out quarterly. The Old Towne Association Web-Site (which you are experiencing) is without equal in the nation. In less than five years, The Association has built an annual Calendar of Events that is the envy of neighboring municipalities. Old Towne events draw thousands of tourists, visitors and townfolks into the area for concerts, craft fairs, festivals, street dances, parades, open house and other promotional and community pride building events such as the concert pictured below.

What The Old Towne Association has accomplished in its first four years has been impressive. What it will accomplish in the next four years will be astounding. While the new City Hall, at long last, being built in Old Towne, is a project of City Government, it can not be denied that the one organization thatorganization that has been at the forefront in advocating the need for the new facility and keeping the matter alive, on the front burner and in front of the public has been The Old Towne Association. The new City Hall, scheduled for completion in mid-2004, will transform and invigorate Old Towne in ways that are hard to imagine. The before mentioned Monument Park Project ($250,000) is just one of the byproducts of the new City Hall.

The Association has, for some time, been working toward the installation of period street lighting in Old Towne. Negotiations are ongoing with a corporate sponsor for the $45,000 to get the project off the ground. Additional perimeter signage is needed at all of the entrances into Old Towne and signage similar similar to the illustration at right is presently being considered. Additional landscaping, facade improvement incentives, traffic and parking improvements, an annual Old Towne magazine, extensive TV and radio advertising, and additions to our annual calendar of events are but a few of the many things being considered by The Association Board of Directors. As so often is the case, it usually comes down to funding and as funding becomes available (and somehow it will), you will see many of these goals become reality.

The Olive Branch Old Towne Preservation and Development Association has come a long way in four years. Watch what we accomplish in the next four.