A £100,000 project to revitalise a town centre could be launched within days.
The face of Spennymoor town centre might change dramatically under proposals being considered by Sedgefield Borough Council.
Between £10,000 and £15,000 is on offer to businesses in Cheapside and King Street in a pilot scheme to improve shop fronts.
If successful, the scheme will be extended to other areas of the town.
The proposals involve a clean-up and improvement of the area surrounding Spennymoor Leisure Centre. There would be a revamp of the underpass near the leisure centre squash courts - which would be fitted with better lighting and covered in anti-graffiti paint.
Overgrown shrubs would also be cut back.
The proposals will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Design conservation officer for Sedgefield Borough Council Bill Kataky said: "The facelift for the town centre begins in earnest within the next few days or weeks. At last we are going to see some action.
"The £100,000 project is for the first phase of the action plan for environmental improvements."
Shop front grants will meet half the costs of renovations such as removing roller shutters and replacing them with other security precautions and new doors, signs or brickwork in the style of an industrial Victorian town.
Leader of Spennymoor Town Council Bill Waters said: "I hope the shopkeepers take advantage of the grants. If it is done as well as the shops in Shildon I will be delighted. It has made a tremendous difference to the town centre in Shildon, there is no doubt about that."
Festival Walk shopping precinct, which has been plagued by vandals and contains many boarded up units is also undergoing revamp.
On Saturday, clothing chain Peacocks will open a store on the site of the former indoor market and owners of the precinct, Retail Properties, said it is in talks with other firms interested in the remaining empty units.
The improvements coincide with plans to build 800 homes between the town centre and Whitworth Hall park land, which would bring hundreds of extra people into the town centre.
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