GRANDVIEWm Wasg, -- Forget for a moment the men in orange vests, the ear-splitting concrete-cutting equipment and the dust.

Look up.

Above the door to the Su Mercado grocery and butcher shop are two off-white medallions built into the structure's facade -- foot-tall symbols of how this downtown hopes to remake itself for the future while giving a nod to its past.

The building -- previous-ly a drab, white, boxy store -- reopened last year with a mixture of red and gray brickwork, an arched entry way and the medallions.

"Instead of just having a square box, there's some detail that's gone into the building," said Cus Arteaga, Grandview interim city administrator.

It's all part of the Lower Yakima Valley's most ambitious downtown renovation project.

While the city is spending $3.8 million to widen sidewalks and add benches, lights and planters to the downtown's core, property owners are being encouraged to follow suit and renovate their own buildings to capitalize on the look and feel of buildings that date back about 100 years.

Initial planning began about two years ago. Supporters hope the project will fare better than other renovation efforts tried over the last 40 years.

If early indications are any sign, it seems to be working. For one, there's more money. There's also a buy-in from many businesses.

For example, the owners of Su Mercado, Jose and Maria Alcantar, helped the city draft design standards and then adopted them in rebuilding their shop after it was damaged by a fire.

As part of the downtown renovation project, the city hired engineers and landscape architects to draw up
plans for Grandview Alive, an ambitious attempt to spur downtown's rebirth as a shopping district with publicly funded streetscape improvements.

Downtown renovations with an eye to history can encourage development, said Megan Duvall, certified local government and survey coordinator for the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation in Olympia.

"It really can be an economic incentive tool," she said.

Duvall's department helps cities set up local preservation programs and ordinances that qualify developers for property tax
breaks. Yakima has such a program, which has helped some of its downtown revitalization.

Besides, the look and feel of a downtown helps give any city an identity.

"It's an indicator of sort of the pulse of the community," she said.

City Councilman Mike Bren, who owns two downtown properties, thinks it will work.

"I think it's going to encourage some people to locate a business downtown," Bren said.

He said the work so far has inspired him. He plans to repaint his Division Street insurance office, as well as replace a weathered awning. While the concrete workers are in town, he may hire them to pave his small off-street parking lot.

Incorporated in 1909, Grandview has a number of downtown buildings that haven't changed much in the last century. Next door to Su Mercado is the Iowa Building, a 1911 two-story apartment and retail space that's among the oldest buildings in Grandview.

In 1986, the city spent nearly $3,000 on architects to survey 88 sites, mostly old buildings, for possible placement on the Washington Heritage Register and the National Historic Register.

Ten Grandview sites made the state list, and seven of those made the federal register. Many of them are downtown storefront buildings, right where the current construction is going on.

And earlier this decade, University of Washington students made several design recommendations to the city.

None of those efforts led to much change.

"We had lots of ideas but not enough money," said Arteaga, who has worked for the city for 37 years.

In the 1970s, for example, workers placed flags and red-white-and-blue planters along the streets to evoke a patriotic theme. But they interfered with traffic visibility and caused a few fender-benders. So the city pulled them out.

This time, the city used its own maintenance crews to kick start the work.

It first set aside money for sewer and water line replacement along Division Street, then used that money as a promised local match on grant applications.

In the end, a mixture of federal stimulus, state capital budget and city funds is paying for the work.

Local history fans believe the work will attract attention to the city's historic architecture, even if it doesn't have a direct economic impact.

Linda Hartshorn owns the Dykstra House, a restaurant one block from the construction area and one of the seven National Historic Register sites.

She said some of her tourist patrons, especially those in town to sip wine, like the historic photos she places around her eatery and enjoy hearing anecdotes of the city's past.

"I love to tell them about it and show them pictures," Hartshorn said.

While she does not expect that to lead a boom, she hopes the downtown work will encourage property owners to refurbish their buildings with an eye to yesteryear.

"I hope people keep old buildings looking that way," she said.

* Ross Courtney can be reached at 509-930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com.