City of Picayune officials accepted a check from MDOT commissioner Tom King Tuesday morning that will give them a major head start in conducting improvements at the Goodyear Boulevard green space.

King said the $400,000 Transportation Alternatives Program grant is 100 percent federally funded, but requires the city to put up a 20 percent match of $100,000.

The total $500,000 in funding will be enough to install a number of improvements, including a walking track and wrought iron fencing, said Mayor Ed Pinero Jr.

“This will be a real benefit for the citizens and will get us well on our way to developing what the public would like to see,” Pinero said.

A previous story in the Item states the site is where the first high school football game was played and where the first post office was built.

“To me it has historical significance and that’s very important,” King said.

Grants Manager Christy Goss said the city also applied for $200,000 in additional funding from the Lower Pearl River Valley Foundation.

If approved, the extra $200,000 will help construct the planned amphitheater or stage at the green space, Pinero said.

City manager Jim Luke said he expects to see construction at the green space begin by the end of the year.

The funding will allow the city to implement some of the design ideas submitted by the public, Pinero said.

“This allows us to start work now to where people can start using the green space,” Pinero said.

The stage or amphitheater could work as a venue for any number of live acts, including gospel signing, performances by Picayune on Stage or live bands, Luke said.

Other improvement projects are planned within the city, including new street lighting and completion of the Memorial Boulevard overlay project, Luke said.

Ornate street lighting is planned for installation along Goodyear Boulevard within the next 30 days and street lighting similar to what was installed along Highland Parkway will be placed along Sycamore Road from Claiborne Hill all the way to Interstate 59.

Vernon Moore with Dungan Engineering said the Memorial Boulevard overlay project, which will complete the paving from the intersection of South Blanks Avenue to Interstate 59, should be complete by the end of the year, weather permitting. The project will also entail the installation of new street lighting, but that work will take longer than the overlay, Moore said.

Luke said the city is applying for $130,000 in grant funding from the Mississippi Development Authority, which if approved, would be used to create brick parking on Main Street between Fourth Avenue and Goodyear Boulevard similar to what was built across from PJ’s Coffee.