Mississippi Avenue has played host to tremendous change over the years, and it continues to do so.

The Nu-Rite Way Food Center, on the corner of N Mississippi and N Shaver, has received a dramatic face-lift. With the help of funding from the Portland Development Commission, the grocery store began a renovation project last month, including cosmetic and structural work both on the outside and inside of the building. Most noticeably, the grocery store has taken down the metal bars and planks of particle board that once covered all of the front windows. Large glass windows now completely cover the store front, according to John Lee, whose parents own the market. The Nu-Rite Way is also in the process of putting in a wooden door with glass inlay, a new sign, as well as a new paint job and light fixtures on the exterior. The market removed a phone booth outside as well, which one local merchant claimed attracted illicit activity, and was a major issue for neighboring businesses.

The windows had been boarded-up for years out of concern that the market might be burglarized. The rise in retail spaces and foot traffic, particularly at night, as well as a decrease in overall crime, have made Mississippi an increasingly safer street after store hours. “Both me and my parents felt like the neighborhood had changed enough,” John Lee said of his family’s decision to finally pursue the renovations.

While the owners of the market had resisted for years to take down the wood planks, surrounding business, both new and old, started opening up their store fronts. Such discrepancy seems to have created an expectation amongst the community. “The whole street wanted us to look like the rest of the street, and we were the last ones to switch, ” said Shaun Pound, owner of Deli by the Pound, which operates inside the Nu-Rite Way Food Center.

Financial assistance from the Portland Development Commission also played a large role in the Nu-Rite Way’s final decision. Since 1989, the PDC has provided grants to over 500 businesses throughout the city with the intention “to rebuild business districts and enhance surrounding neighborhoods.” Through the Storefront Improvement Program, the PDC issued the Nu-Rite Way Food Center a grant covering half the total cost of the renovations, John Lee told the Sentinel. An exact dollar amount was not disclosed.

As part of the renovations, Nu-Rite Way opened a new deli inside, Deli by the Pound, which sells, according to Shaun Pound, “every kind of sandwich every made in the world.” All the sandwiches are made entirely of local ingredients.

Although the renovations are pending completion, customers and neighboring business alike are responding positively. “Twenty thousand people a day walk through the doors and tell us how great it looks,” Pound said.

For Cindy Rokoff, the owner of Flutter, an antique and vintage shop on the same block as the Nu-Rite, the most exciting part of the renovations is to see one of Mississippi’s iconic historic buildings be preserved. “It’s an amazing feet that you see Portland do over and over again. Its exciting to see these beautiful old buildings on this really great, bustling street, happening again.”