Lights above downtown Rockmart coming soon
The downtown skyline in Rockmart is about to see a big change as the city plans to bring some additional light on Marble Street in the first phase of a project to attract customers to businesses.
The City of Rockmart is providing residents with a year-round string lighting above Marble Street and will add lights to the top of the Rockmart History Museum building to complete the first step in attracting people to the downtown area once the sun goes down.
Its part of improvements suggested by the Downtown Comeback program visit, and will be paid for by the city. The expected cost is around $10,000 once electrical work, installation and the lighting itself is purchased according to the City of Rockmart’s Stacey Smith.
She said a survey of the street expected 200 feet of lighting to be installed on Marble Streets first, then more to be added.
The two sections of the street will be divided by the museum, which itself will be wrapped in lighting all the way around the roof line.
The City of Rockmart’s Stacey Smith described the lighting going in a zigzag pattern taking up a 400 feet of air space along Marble Street, as well.
“They have to be more than 13 feet above for clearance purposes,” City Manager Jeff Ellis explained. “Also they’re hung on aircraft cable, so it’ll be strong and hold up.”
Side portions on Church Street will not get lighting in this first phase, but will come in a second later on when funds become available to expand.
Businesses will have to agree to allow for mounting and electrical to be completed before the project is undertaken, an effort that began last week after the Downtown Rockmart Advisory Committee meeting was held for the Chamber last week.
That committee – formerly the Rockmart Business Alliance – will use some of the funds leftover from the previous organization to help cover the cost of the materials in the project, reducing the amount taxpayers will have to pay up front.
Sales of the snowflake lights from Christmas decorations past in Rockmart are also going to contribute to reducing the cost to the city for installing the lighting.
City Manager Jeff Ellis said his hopes were that they would complete the lighting project and have an event before year’s end to usher in the change to the downtown area.
Chamber Executive Director Blair Elrod added that it was her hope this would be the first of many projects to come out of the Downtown Comeback event in September.
The City of Cedartown is also looking into taking similar steps in installing year-round string lighting over Main Street, but no official announcements of their plans have been made yet. Discussions were ongoing as of their November work
session on getting it underway.
The committee also agreed to use fund from the Rockmart Business Alliance to cover the cost of signage to direct people off Highway 278 into the business district, a project that is underway as well.
The state’s Department of Transportation did get permission to put up new City of Rockmart city limit signs designed by the city in place of the green signage already used, but will need to get additional permission, which Smith said is something
that is being considered.
City officials and the committee are hoping that DOT will give them permission to replace signage directing people downtown with something more akin to what Rome has, with additional colors and not rely on the signage the state provides that is felt to be “cluttered.”
Check back for more on the forthcoming lighting project in Rockmart and celebration of the installation as plans come together.