VISTA -- Members of a downtown business group said Friday that they are planning to put the finishing touches on a flagpole pavilion in central Vista, completing a long-neglected project that was started by their predecessors nearly two decades ago.

Karen Clay, executive director the Vista Village Business Association, said the group will install bricks and bronze plaques, inscribed with the names of local donors, to fill in the gaps on the pavilion wall.

Clay said she hopes to use the restored pavilion for a Memorial Day service following the business association's Main Street parade.

The brick and concrete pavilion -- behind Lincoln Middle School at the corner of Broadway and Citrus Avenue -- showcases the names of several dozen Vistans and civic groups. But years after its dedication, there are still spaces available, and the pavilion itself has fallen into disrepair.

"There are tiles missing and there are bricks that are broken out," said Denise Foster, longtime owner of the King and Queen hair studio next door.

The pavilion was built in 1987 by the Vista Town Center Association, a previous incarnation of the Vista Village Business Association. The business association works to promote commerce downtown and is funded in part by annual assessments levied against businesses within a special tax district.

Foster, who was on the promotions committee of the Town Center Association, said the pavilion was originally intended to be a "nice little meeting place" and a focal point of an emerging downtown.

On its dedication plaque, now grimy and weathered, business owners and city leaders asked Vista's future generations to "expand on our vision and share in our hope."

As years passed, the priorities of the business association changed and the pavilion "was put on the back burner," Foster said.

"It has been kind of a sore spot for some of us that have been around here for so long," she said

Clay, who was hired in November, has taken up the restoration challenge. She will be assisted by the Kiwanis Club of Vista, which is scheduling a date to repaint the concrete base, polish the existing plaques and clean up the deck.

"When it's all done, it'll look pretty cool," said Kiwanis Club President Arlene Shafer.

Clay is selling inscribed plaques for $750 and bricks for $50. She hopes to fill in approximately 40 empty spaces on the pavilion wall and restore the existing tarnished plaques in time for Memorial Day.

Foster said she's anxious to the structure finally take shape. "It's a matter of pride."

For information about purchasing bricks or plaques, call (760) 414-9391.

Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at (760) 631-6621 or ctenbroeck@nctimes.com.