We are honored to receive $50,000 grant from Banner University Medical Center Phoenix (BUMCP) dedicated to supporting the revitalization efforts along McDowell Road from 7th Street to 20th street. The funding will go towards beautification projects, physical improvements, community events with the goal of bringing back the Miracle Mile to McDowell Road.
McDowell Road from Central to 20th was Phoenix’s most glamorous street in the 1940s and 1950s and was fondly referred to as the Miracle Mile. The heyday of the first commercial corridor outside of downtown Phoenix lasted until 1957 when Park Central Mall opened and the beginning of the Mall Era of shopping took hold. The following half century was not kind to this little strip of McDowell Road: However, the commercial district between 7th street and 20th has seen steady growth in the past ten years and is on the verge of becoming a place for the community to stroll, shop and relax just like the days when it was the Miracle Mile.
BUMCP’s generous donation will play an integral part in continuing the improvement of the corridor by helping create large murals on five buildings this year and allowing Trellis to host community events to connect the surrounding neighborhoods and the city with the small businesses on the Miracle Mile. Other projects include:
- Installation of lighting and security cameras in alleys
- Activating alleys with plants, art and new paint
- Signs with Miracle Mile branding on poles.
- Window treatments to make vacant shops look occupied
- Physical improvements to buildings, landscaping and planting of trees.