Celebrations and Changes come to Cedartown
2019 brought Cedartown new business and opportunities for fun through a busy year
The word “new” is one that kept coming up in Cedartown over the past year. A new Popeye’s Chicken completed before years end. A new car wash in front of Walmart, even a new soccer complex that will soon open to the public.
All this new also brings with it change, like the move from downtown to Peek Park with the Summer Concert Series or the beginning of new festivals, like the Holloway Hunny Pot Festival in Big Spring Park this past September.
Most of all, Cedartown got to shine on the national stage with hometown heroes like Nick Chubb running all over opponents in the NFL, or the premiere of “Watchmen” on HBO this past fall giving Main Street the center stage for even a few brief moments in the series’ first episode.
Looking back on the year past, here’s some of our favorite and notable stories from 2019:
Business opportunities come to Cedartown
A car wash, several new restaurants, renovations and a big move saw Cedartown business growth and changes throughout 2019.
Among those who saw opportunities for gaining traction was Cedarstream, who moved out of their downtown spaces and took up residence in a new facility in the Northside Industrial Park during 2019.
They also got the chance to fulfill a super order for New England Patriots early on in the year as they printed up batches of Super Bowl Champions shirts for Boston-based fans heading out of town.
The 38,800 square foot facility for Cedarstream marked the latest industrial opening around Cedartown, but wasn’t the only new partner to move into the westside of Polk County over the past year.
Construction is still underway for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 926 Training facility next door to Cedartown Middle School after the union of heavy equipment operators in the metro Atlanta area sought a new site more centrally located for their member training program.
The announcement of their coming happened in 2018, but IUOE officials didn’t get work underway until this past summer.
The site will bring in small groups at a time to learn how to operate equipment like cranes, earth movers, bulldozers and more but also provides ongoing education opportunities for current union members as well.
Solar expansion was also a notable improvement for Cedartown as a new site was put up by Inman Solar on cityowned property in months past. The site adds around another 20 acres of solar capacity to Polk County when it comes online.
The agreement made back in April provides for a 35year lease on the otherwise unused land off Sixth Street near the Westside Industrial Park.
One other big development will be in housing in coming years. In September, the city agreed to allow for Terry Marangakis to bring a new apartment complex with 48 two bedroom, two bath apartments around 849 square feet of living space. An additional 24 units will be one bedroom, one bathroom apartments of about 563 square feet.
The total of 72 units near Lake Creek Road were approved to move forward by the Commission, but no start of work had yet been announced on the complex by year’s end.
Cedartown also saw the addition of new restaurants throughout the year. Kizuna, WNB Factory and Popeye’s Lousiana Kitchen all brought new flavors throughout the year to Polk County.
The year also saw the addition of a new car wash in front of Walmart, the Fleet gas station being completely overhauled and work slowly moving forward on bringing back the gas station on North Main Street across from Jefferson’s among others.
As far as other national chains went in 2019, Taco Bell also got a complete overhaul in past months. The store got a complete overhaul inside and out during while the doors were shuttered for weeks. One that left Cedartown completely was Pizza Hut, who shuttered its doors in the late summer months.
City projects underway in 2019
The City of Cedartown announced in 2018 their intentions to get sewer work done to improve the system, and the financing and work is coming to fruition.
Sewer work being completed includes the installation of new lift stations and pumps in key areas near the Water Treatment facility, which in recent weeks have proved much needed with road shutdowns on Girard Avenue near the plant due to pump failures and swift action by public works officials to put temporary lines in place.
A new lift station is already in the works on Cave Spring Road, which will help alleviate some of the issues had by the city in keeping the system running as it should during heavy rain events.
Later in the year, money borrowed through bond sales to pay for system upgrades were able to lock in a refinance rate on the market well below what had been seen previously and help save additional funds on repayments over the life of the bonds.
The city also got most of the work done on a new soccer complex in Goodyear Park, including new sod, fencing and road work after paving was done ahead of year’s end on the small street heading into the complex next to Cedar Creek off West Avenue.
It is the first phase of the city’s goals to increase and improve soccer facilities for youth. The city also made improvements to the Prior Street softball field and others in the year past to help increase participation in youth sports that also included a covering for the basketball courts at Turner Street Park.
Commission seat changes hands
The service of one commissioner came to an end with an announcement late in the summer, and another began following a special election late in the year to run out the expiring term.
Former City Commissioner Jordan Hubbard announced in August as qualifying for local seats was coming to a close that he and his wife Jessica were moving out of the city limits into a new home and that he would have to come off the board after a term and a half in office. He remains busy as ever as an educator for dual enrollment classes and a business and property owner in the area.
Hubbard was replaced in office by newly elected Commissioner Sam Branch.
Branch, who works with Truist Bank as well as Gammage and Sons Funeral Home in Cedartown, sought the seat in competition with the former county Code Enforcement Officer Randell Brazier.
Following November’s special election which Branch won, he was sworn into serve immediately through year’s end. Branch will have to face re-election to keep the seat in 2021.
Changes to festivals and concerts downtown
With the way the weather has been in the summer, during October and other times of the year when traditionally it was time to be outdoors celebrating, the City of Cedartown’s Tourism and Economic Development department saw an opportunity to change up the way the city has hosted several events throughout the year.
So instead of having a fall festival when the weather in early October is still too hot for the leaves to have changed, or to face bad weather downtown without a crowd during the Summer Concert Series, changes were made to the schedule and location in 2019 for special events.
Instead of Holloway Park hosting the Summer Concert Series as it had in years past, the whole show was moved to Peek Park for the year and brought out better attendance and more youth with the inclusion of bouncy castles and more to the mix.
The Department of Tourism and Economic Development also moved and renamed the Fall Festival held the first weekend of October to the first weekend in November, and it became the first ever Market on Main festival for the year. Though it remained the same as the fall festival in terms of events and lineups, the main difference was with it moved up a month the weather felt much more like fall.
Cedartown also started a new festival honoring a hometown legend. the Holloway Hunny Pot Festival in Big Spring Park brought honey lovers — including Winnie the Pooh — down to the park for festivities in early September.
The event, combined with the Cedar Valley Arts Festival and the Market on Main Festival, bring three major gatherings to Cedartown parks and the downtown area throughout the year.
Main Street shows off on the small screen
After filming over Memorial Day 2018, not much was heard again from folks at HBO.
Then with fall premieres came the show folks who remembered the riot recreated downtown wanted to see finally showed up on television. “Watchmen,” the criticallyacclaimed series that began with the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 in an alternate universe of American History, featured the corner of Main Street and West Avenue during the opening minutes of the opening episode.
Cedartown this year opened its doors to a student filmmaker utilizing the cabin on West John Hand Drive for a short film and Community Share Ministries also played host to filmmakers for a documentary on the organization.