By Rob Sabo, Northern Nevada Business Weekly

Nevada’s oldest settlement is set to get a face lift next summer.

Douglas County community leaders are working through a plan to make Genoa’s downtown more pedestrian friendly with improvements designed to increase parking and help shoppers move about more freely. Other proposed enhancements are planned to upgrade aging infrastructure and beautify the historic settlement — and leaders hope the work will lure more travelers to the town.

The Genoa Destination project, working with an already-established $1.5 million budget, seeks to beautify the historic downtown by adding landscaping, burying overhead utilities, repaving disintegrated asphalt and improving walkways, street crossings, lighting and signage.

Currently in the engineering phase, Douglas County officials hope to get projects out to bid by next spring, says Lisa Granahan, economic vitality manager. Work is expected to be completed before the annual Genoa Candy Dance, the largest special event in the Carson Valley. Much of the scoping work was conducted in previous community assessments and economic vitality studies, Granahan notes, which has allowed the project to advance at a much quicker pace.

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