Out with the old, in with the old
Chickamauga’s vision: Mayberry 2.0
Chickamauga residents, in planning for their city’s next half-century, have chosen a path of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it — make it better.”
That in essence is what Danny Bivins, of UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, said during the Aug. 8 meeting of the Chickamauga City Council.
Bivins said it was impressive that more than 100 surveys had been completed, attendance and engagement at planning meetings had been exemplary, and consensus had been reached regarding short-term solutions and long-term goals.
Quaint, historic, friendly, home, quiet, safe, convenient location, good schools, Mayberry — “and I mean that in a good way” — again and again were words residents used to describe Chickamauga, he said.
The shared vision called for preservation of what has made their hometown what it is while looking forward to plan and coordinate what will make Chickamauga a vibrant and thriving community.
Betts Berry, a lifelong Chickamauga resident, said recent design charrettes — brainstorming sessions that involve all attendees — were proof “that it truly takes everybody to make a successful community” and had begun a process that will continue. “It is not going to stop,” she said. The city used a $50,000 Lyndhurst Foundation grant and a $5,000 grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority to fund this planning procedure that is part of the Renaissance Strategic Visioning and Planning Program offered by the University of Georgia.
While still open to modification, the plan has already shown results since its inception in February. Architectural drawings of a revamped downtown area illustrate the potential for improvement that involves little more than a paint brush, a pruning saw and a plan.
An example is the railroad depot that for years has served as home to a tourist information center, museum and model railroad exhibit.
The model trains have been placed in storage and their space in the building is being retasked as a tourist welcome center — complete with public restrooms. A chain link fence that was topped with barbed wire is being replaced by board fencing and the exterior is being refreshed.
Likewise, a museum adjacent Lee & Gordon’s Mills has been repainted and plans call for expansion to make it serve double duty, perhaps as a location for canoe/kayak/paddle board rentals at the blueway launch site below the mill’s dam.
Future plans call for perhaps adding a covered bridge, like one seen in old photographs, across the dam, and adding outdoor dining spaces to the downtown area by cutting back trees that now infringe on the sidewalk.
Perhaps one of the most ambitious plans call for extending the historic downtown commercial district eastward across the railroad tracks and in front of the former Crystal Springs Print Works property on 10th Street. Adding two-story buildings, similar in style and size to those on Gordon Avenue, would increase retail and residential space.
Attention was also directed at making the city more tourist friendly. Suggestions included new signage that would link the town to the nation’s oldest and largest military park, Chickamauga Battlefield Park, that would increase traffic to shops, restaurants and possibly help expand the local lodging base. The goal would be to have visitors stay overnight and offer things that would make out-of-town tourists consider a visit to Chickamauga as more than a two-hour tour.
The list of possibilities was limited only by the imagination of those involved. Some things are in place or soon will be, others are years, if ever, in the future. But all were considered.
“These ideas came from us,” Berry said, in thanking the council for their support of this Renaissance. “The challenges are things we can meet.”