NATCHEZ — The Natchez Community Alliance is $5,000 closer to funding its $20,000 downtown tree well enhancement project.

The group announced at Thursday’s monthly meeting that the Symphony of Gardens Tour has donated $5,000 for beautification of the areas from Main Street to Franklin Street, Community Alliance Chairman John Holyoak said.

Replacing tree wells — the areas around trees’ bases — is the alliance’s project for the year, and donations are welcomed, Holyoak said.

Sponsoring a tree well costs $250, he said, and that includes placing the tree and the assurance that it will live for at least a year.

“We’re still in the entry stage as to how we’re going to handle acknowledgments,” Holyoak said. “We’ve talked about placing plaques (near the trees) with people’s names who have sponsored them.”

Though the basic, phase I outline includes Main to Franklin streets, Holyoak said he wouldn’t ignore any business on other downtown streets that donates money.

“Some businesses might want their streets done,” he said. “If they donate the money, we’ll go ahead and put trees in.”

Gardner said the alliance is planning to enhance the tree wells already in place, not create new ones.

“Enhancing a well (means) making it more beautiful than an old, empty eyesore,” he said.

Holyoak said repairing wells and planting trees will be a multi-year process.

“We’ll start with the wells that are vacant,” he said. “We’ll hopefully get public approval as we build energy, then we’ll go to trees that are on their last legs and not going to survive much longer.”

City Engineer David Gardner said maintaining the trees may prove to be a problem, because trusting businesses to water trees isn’t something the alliance can guarantee will happen.

“It’s going to take some effort,” he said. “That’s something we could work out, but it’s going to take some discussion and effort to help — not just one person can do that.”

Donations should be sent to P.O. Box 18231 (zip code 39122), and checks should be made out to Natchez Adams County Community Alliance.