Uniontown florist Steve Neubauer was working in his shop on a frigid Saturday morning in January when his telephone rang.

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette
	Dave Bedi, of Lane Plastering and Stucco from Lincoln Place, adds stucco to Fayette Professional Services along Main Street in Uniontown yesterday.

Newly elected Fayette County Commissioner and 84 Lumber founder Joe Hardy was on the line, asking if Neubauer had time to join him for a ride around Uniontown's business district. What would you do, Hardy asked Neubauer, to dress things up around here?

Then Hardy popped another question, the one that still makes Neubauer and other business people in Uniontown marvel: "How'd you like to help me spend a million dollars?"

"I'd never had anybody ask me that before," Neubauer said. "I certainly was interested."

Six months later, Hardy's promised $1 million has turned into at least $3 million, and Gov. Ed Rendell has kicked in $3.1 million in additional state funds to revitalize the deteriorated business district of Uniontown, the seat of one of Pennsylvania's poorest counties.

Yesterday, a parade and day-long festival along Uniontown's flag-lined Main Street showcased the first phase of the renovations that Hardy promised to lead, then dipped into his own pocket to make happen.

An estimated 5,000 residents, business people and potential merchants strolled past storefronts, office buildings and the venerable State Theater, all gleaming from three months of whirlwind repairs.

They also cheered and applauded Hardy when he appeared with U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and other state and local dignitaries in front of the newly landscaped Fayette County office building. Hardy, 81, in turn, thanked them for investing their own dollars and time in their city, saying he got much more out of the project than they did.

"But there's a deeper meaning to it," he told the crowd. "There's hope; there's hope for all of us. An amazing spirit has taken over this place, [and it's] so beautiful, so deep."

For years, business and community leaders in Fayette County have fretted over the shabby, empty buildings and vacant lots that marred Uniontown's commercial corridor. Now they're counting on the project to save their Downtown from the ghost-town fate of so many other once-vibrant midsize communities.

"We've been here when business was good, then not so good," said Jeff DiMaio, whose family has operated the landmark Titlow Tavern and Grille since 1970. "In the last five years, business was growing slowly, but Mr. Hardy stepping up to the plate really pushed it over the fence. People are doing this together, and there's a lot of excitement here."

Through the day, locals, representatives from Rendell's office and Specter checked out dozens of buildings that had been painted, cleaned and spiffed up with new windows, shutters, signs and crisp awnings. Deceptively handsome facades shielded a few lots where dilapidated buildings had been demolished but not yet replaced.

New planters brimmed with blooms on sidewalks adorned with black iron benches, ornamental lighting and handsome gold and green street and directional signs. Fountains splashed water in two new parklets, one named for Hardy's Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in nearby Farmington and the other for the late Fayette County philanthropist Robert E. Eberly, who died in May.

"Life has been very good to me, and I like challenges," Hardy said. "Material things, I have. For me, the great thing was to be able to touch individuals and see the hope."

Hardy had been in office for barely two weeks when he started seeking opinions and support from business, government and economic-development officials. From those conversations evolved what Hardy dubbed his George C. Marshal Plan II, named after the Uniontown native and general who was the architect of the plan to rebuild Europe after World War II.

Hardy asked dozens of business owners to come back with a plan and bids. Some just wanted to paint or repair cracked windows. Others needed structural repairs costing thousands.

He reviewed the pitches and assembled a project team. To some businesses, Hardy gave money outright. To others that proposed more extensive projects, he agreed to match their contributions 50-50, Sampson said.

Local contractors, engineers and craftspeople were recruited. Banks agreed to offer zero-interest, 15-year renovation loans to business owners with big wish lists.

When asked how much he ended up spending, Hardy laughed and said "I don't know anymore." But he pointed out that local businesses also anted up significant sums, saying "I'm so grateful for that."

There were skeptics, Hardy admitted, particularly among people who were used to government agencies talking about public needs but doing little more than commissioning a study. But enthusiasm flared after a public meeting in April, when hundreds of residents looked over computer renderings of proposed improvements.

Later that month, Gov. Ed Rendell came to town to distribute $3.1 million in state funds earmarked for a new parking garage, renovations to the State Theater, demolition of ramshackle buildings neglected by absentee landlords and other Downtown projects.

Hardy himself has purchased or leased and will develop a number of dilapidated buildings on or near Main Street, including the long-vacant G.C. Murphy department store and the former Oasis, which locals referred to as a nuisance bar. Acquiring the Oasis building was "a fetish," he said, and he envisions it as a fancy eatery that will complement the State Theater across the street.

Now the Marshall Plan II team is moving into its second phase -- assessing the amount of available space in the city's refurbished heart and marketing it to new businesses and residents.

A recent study conducted by HyettPalma Inc., a development consulting firm based in Alexandria, Va., concluded that Uniontown would benefit from attracting specialty shoe and clothing shops, a card shop, a coffee shop and upscale restaurants. Residents have also suggested adding jewelry, gift and hardware stores, an ice-cream parlor and loft apartments, Sampson said.

Hardy said he plans to lease some of the available spaces for six to eight months while businesses are recruited and established to entice customers to a new Uniontown by opening at the same time. "I want magic," he said.