In his spare time, Demopolis City Councilman Ronnie O’Neal loves to refurbish houses, an activity he calls "fun and interesting."

On his off days, O’Neal has been spending time refurbishing a house on Main Street &045; one of a number of houses on the downtown street that has been refurbished &045; where he paints the house in an array of different colors, repairing the air conditioning, and making the house look "cleaner, brighter, new and refurbished."

O’Neal said that many of the houses in Demopolis are old houses, which he described as "having more character; houses that lend more character to the city of Demopolis."

O’Neal said he goes through the usual process of buying the house, refurbishing the house, and then selling the house once the refurbishing is done.

O’Neal said it takes four to six months of work to refurbish the house, making the house look neater and more respectable, lending an "air of respectability to the community."

The paint brushes scattered all over the house, the walls slightly splattered with paint, the old walls a little bit dry and grungy, O’Neal after crouching down begins to stand up, peering outside onto the green grass outside in the backyard, the grass a little tinged with yellow.

Manager of Athlete’s Foot Steven Gutshall is another citizen involved in the housing refurbishing project.

Gutshall is also refurbishing a house on Main Street, rewiring the electrical wiring, updating the kitchen, making "the house look a whole better than it was before."

Said Gutshall, "Anything we can do to make it look better, improve it, make a whole lot better than before. That’s what were doing. Hopefully, the effort will be well worth it."