Vashon’s main drag could soon see a sweeping makeover, should merchants and building owners choose to participate in a storefront revitalization program coming to the Island this spring.

“I think there’s a lot that could be done,” Vashon Pharmacy co-owner Tom Langland said of the town’s appearance. “Some small things and big things to make a better aesthetic downtown.”

Langland was among dozens of business owners who attended a Vashon Chamber of Commerce meeting Monday where they learned about the project.

Beginning in late March, about a dozen graduate students from the University of Washington’s Department of Architecture will focus their creative efforts on Vashon’s business core, an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants where a few storefronts have been spruced up in recently but many haven’t seen change in years.

As a capstone project before graduation, the architecture students will work one-on-one with local businesses and building owners, developing a plan to make the town more visually appealing and economically vibrant.

Ultimately, the aspiring architects will leave merchants who choose to participate with detailed plans to redo their storefronts, whether it be a new paint job or a full renovation of their building’s facade.

Jim Nicholls, a UW lecturer who has worked with graduate students to bring the program to 10 other towns in the state, told those at Monday’s chamber meeting that the so-called Storefront Studio project doesn’t intend to force a new look on a town or make it look more like other cities — something he said residents often worry about when the project comes to their locale.

Nicholls said the students will spend extensive time researching Vashon and its history and hope to learn what aspects of the town are most important to Islanders. They’ll then develop a vision for what the town’s main street could look like after a remodeling effort. He showed the group several examples of buildings in towns such as Roslyn and Puyallup that had been given a new lease on life based on the budding architects’ suggestions.

“They’ll say, ‘Here’s what it looks like today, and here’s a possible re-visioning of it,’” Nicholls said.

Students will be flexible and alter their ideas based on feedback from Islanders at individual meetings and at several open houses, he added. At the open houses, which will take place throughout the spring, digital renderings of remodeled buildings will be on display, and students will use computer programs to show merchants what their storefronts would look like with various treatments.

“You guys are the key. We’re just the skills set,” Nicholls told the business owners. “It’s your vision we want to give shape to.”

Debi Richards, director of the chamber, said in an interview that some business owners were hesitant when they first learned about the Storefront Studio a few months ago. However, most warmed up to the idea once they understood the graduate students wanted to hear local opinions. Richards said no one wants Vashon to be “another Leavenworth or Poulsbo.”

For her part, Richards said that she thinks remodeling some of Vashon’s more neglected storefronts could do the Island a lot of good, both aesthetically and economically.

“The town is very eclectic. It will always be eclectic, but it can be freshened up and made to be more welcoming and cheerful,” Richards said. “Not just for visitors, but the people who live here everyday.”

The project will be funded by a $10,000 economic development grant from King County. The grant came from a pot of money that became available last year when the county dissolved its Economic Enterprise Corp. — which issued bonds to foster economic development — after the state began a similar program. The King County Council voted to put the corporation’s $95,221 to work as 10 grants for development in communities that could use an economic boost.

Julie Koler, a historic preservation officer for King County — which partners with the UW on the project — said at the chamber meeting the county also plans to make low-interest and maybe no-interest loans available to Islanders who want to perform work on their storefronts.

“The students will come in and do their work, and hopefully within a short period of time we’ll come in and provide the power to do that (remodeling),” Koler said.

Koler didn’t say how much money would be available but said the funding, unlike the Storefront Studio, would also be made available to businesses outside Vashon town.

Bill Brown, owner of the Brown Agency, said money would be the key to change for many local business owners.

“My ears perked up when I heard small business loans and funding,” he said at the meeting. “I’m sure a lot of business owners downtown would love to redo their facade but simply don’t have the money.”

Koler, in an interview, said that simply getting free consulting work from the young architects will be a great deal for business owners. It would cost upwards of $30,000 for an architectural firm to do the same work on Vashon, she said.

Koler, who has been involved in Storefronts Studio programs in other towns, said the students’ efforts could make over Vashon town, or make very little difference, depending on what business owners do with the plans.

“Some communities really haven’t done much of anything, and others are moving forward on it,” Koler said.

She named North Bend as a town that has embraced the project and where merchants have put the Storefront Studio’s vision to work.

“It’s really brought vitality back to their downtown,” she said.

Langland, who has co-owned the Vashon Pharmacy for 20 years, said he was looking forward to learning about the young architects ideas for the town, as well as for his particular building. He said he would consider investing in a remodel and hopes other merchants will keep an open mind as well.

“We’re not going to ‘Leavenworth’ this (town) ever,” he said. “I hope everybody will listen and not just brush off an outside opinion, or something that costs money, without giving a chance to another point of view.”