Fred’s Store in downtown Brookhaven is getting a facelift thanks to the Brookhaven Trust and in cooperation with several others.

The Brookhaven Trust was founded in 1991 in an effort to promote cultural events in Brookhaven and preserve the local heritage. Since completing its first major project repairing the roof at the Mary Jane Lampton Auditorium at the Mississippi School of the Arts, the Brookhaven Trust has served to benefit several other buildings throughout the downtown area.

“Roy Barnett is doing the painting on the building,” Brookhaven Trust President Jason Snider said. “He’s painting the south side of the building and also the front that’s facing the railroad.”

Snider said it took about a year to get authorization to paint the building because it was difficult to find the correct person in the Fred’s corporate office who could make the decision. Once they found the right manager to ask to visit the Brookhaven store, it was simple enough to convince him it was time for a paint job, Snider said.

“It’s the last remaining building on South Whitworth to be renovated,” Snider said Thursday. “Ever since I got involved with the Brookhaven Trust, I wanted to finish off the South Whitworth block. Fred’s is one of the larger buildings downtown. It has that blue awning and on the side of the wall there’s three different colors of paint.”

That changed Friday when Barnett and his crew made quick work of the south side wall of Fred’s. It’s now painted consistently with a dark green color chosen by Anna Leggett with Evelyn Douglass.

The Fred’s update was a community effort. Hollie and Terry Pappas donated 25 gallons of paint to the project.

“It has been a long time coming and worked on by many,” Hollie Pappas said in a Facebook post. “Terry and I could have used the 25 gallons of paint at Home Depot on any of our own downtown projects, but we saved them for a special community project. And it was well worth it to see this project finally come to fruition as it had many road blocks over the years.”

Pappas said plans to replace the blue awning and sign didn’t work out because of corporate requirements, but the Trust is planning to repair the awning and repaint it.

“Hopefully the new awning paint will allow the vintage Fred’s key sign to stand out more,” she said. “If you never noticed their vintage key logo, be sure to check it out.”

Work on the front of the building will be done this week, according to Snider.