Ever since a fire gutted four businesses at the corner ofWhitworth Avenue and Monticello Street in late May 2007, the lothas sat vacant, effectively an eyesore in what is otherwise ablooming downtown.

But the vision of one citizen and the support of many others hasgiven the corner some new life just in time for the Christmasseason. Precision Mortgage owner Ivy Burt said that through herlife she has always been inclined to look at the first impressiongiven off by an area, and she wanted to find a way to help.

“It’s a highly visible section of the city, and when you comethrough going home, it’s like you want to turn your nose up,because everything else looks so nice,” she said.

So in a conversation with one of her employees, Burt posed theidea of providing something for the Christmas season to bringbeauty from the ashes.

“I said, ‘What about the idea of a little Christmas cheer forthe corner for people to enjoy?'” she explained. “We agreed that itwould be nice, because this is a glorious time of the year, and whynot have something for people to look at that will make themsmile?”

So the idea of a corner Nativity Scene was born. Burt set torounding up support, and found more than 40 individuals andorganizations that were able to donate anything from pocket changeto labor, and soon a different look began to materialize. First,the group painted as much of the wall as 30 gallons of paint atalmost $17 each would cover.

“We were going to do the whole wall. We got halfway through thebottom portion

and it soaked all that paint up because the bricks are soporous,” she said.

The painting stopped there for another reason besides the end ofthe money, Burt said. As they used a bucket truck donated by KennyCollins to try to paint the higher reaches of the wall, someoneinformed her that the ground could cave in at any time because of abasement that is supposed to exist under the lot.

“There’s a basement under there that we didn’t know about, andthe truck was really too heavy to be using there,” she said. “If wewere to finish painting that wall, we’d have to get a scaffolding,or something that’s light, but we’d also have to have enoughdonations and paint to finish it too.”

Meanwhile, the Brookhaven High School tech department studentsbuilt the stable, and Burt paid for a chunk of the decorations anddonations covered the rest – some reindeer and Christmas trees, andfigures of Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus that light up thedark.

“There was just a void there, and everything else was so nicecoming down the street,” she said. “We’ve gotten a lot of goodfeedback, especially during the Christmas parade. But we put it upthere not so much for the intent of compliments but for everyone toenjoy.”

Burt, who is originally from Caseyville, said she moved back toLincoln County six or seven years ago, and brought with her an urgeto serve the people of her native county. She said that is a majorreason why she undertook the downtown corner project.

“We’re really just doing something to have it be something nicethat the people and the citizens of the county and the city, andvisitors as well, when they come through, can enjoy the scenery alittle with holiday cheer,” she said.