Waynesville’s Main Street could be getting a new look with a nod to the past.

A gateway to the Smokies arch stretched over Main Street from the 1930s until the early '70s, when it fell into disrepair and was taken down.

But a movement is underway to put up a new one.

Before the Downtown Waynesville Association re-configured into the Downtown Waynesville Advisory Committee, it still had $75,000s in its budget. Members floated the idea with the NCDOT of using the money to install a new arch. It was met with a favorable response. So, initial plans are in the works.

The next step is to ask the DOT for an encroachment.

“We decided that it would be more meaningful if we could do one large project and do something that we could give the town that would last, essentially, forever,” Teresa Pennington, of the Downtown Waynesville Association, said.

The total cost is estimated at $167,000. Town leaders are planning a donation campaign. The new arch would stretch over the south end of Main Street downtown.