City and business leaders will gather in Stone Mountain Friday afternoon, Oct. 8, to celebrate the first part of a downtown facelift.

A 3 p.m. ribbon cutting will showcase the $1.7 million project to rebuild sidewalks and install features such as trees and benches along Main Street between Manor Drive and City Hall.

Main Street Stone Mountain, a business group, will also unveil its gift to the city during the event: a sculpture of quarry workers done by John Thigpen. The sculpture will be the centerpiece of a new pedestrian island in the downtown area.

The event also will include the opening of the city’s Micro-Enterprise Project, which helps artists start their own studios and galleries in the city.

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Rebecca Ramage-Tuttle, assistant director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia, says the the DOE rule change is “a slippery slope” for civil rights. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC