The First United Methodist Church of Arlington will unveil a safer North Street and a new plaza with a grand opening ceremony Sunday.

Through the restoration project, the church created walkways, added handicap parking spaces and landscaped the area. The new Gene Patrick Plaza will serve as a tribute to the former councilman, who was also a member of First United. Patrick, an active volunteer and musician, passed away in September 2012.

"It was a way to help continue the revitalization of downtown through a visual perspective," said Carolyn Mentesana, the executive director of the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation. "It also had a component in it where it was addressing safety issues where pedestrians were at risk because of the way traffic flowed through the area."

The church began to discuss the project about five years ago to increase accessibility to downtown and make improvements in the community, said Mary Lobban, the business administrator at First United.

"It just makes the downtown area look nicer and updated," Lobban said. "North Street was beginning to look kind of rundown and now it looks brand new."

The improvements were made possible by grants, including a $225,000 challenge grant from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation and a $200,000 grant from the Hesta Stuart Christian Charitable Trust, as well as donations from church members.

The challenge grant required First United to raise money and match the donation, which the church far exceeded, said Mentesana.

Sunday's celebration begins at noon following worship and features live music and food from local restaurants.