About The Braselton news. (Jefferson, Ga) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2022)
o O Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy Wednesday, April 27, 2022 Vol. 15 No. 20 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages Community spotlight Hoschton bookstore a work of art By David R. Altman Tucked away in a non-descript but classy looking strip shopping cen ter in a fast-growing area of Hoschton is an indepen dent bookstore you have to see to believe. Owners Brittnay and Patrick Sears have built a bookstore—quite liter ally—with their own two hands which is certain to take its place among the nation's great Indie book stores. It’s called The Inside Story Bookstore and Cafe (www.theinsidestory- books.com) and besides carrying all the best-sellers, it offers more than 4,000 books with nearly every genre you can imagine. With National Inde- See Bookstore, page 12A Patrick and Brittnay Sears opened The Inside Sto ry Bookstore and Cafe last year—and are building a loyal following. Grease, The Musical U 7 H w 1 of Photo by Ben Munro Carson Walker sings “Those Magic Changes” during a Sunday (April 24) performance of “Grease, The Mu sical” by the Jackson County High School Panther Players. The group, which began practicing the show in January, performed the production four times between Thursday and Sunday. See more photos on 7A. Braselton Braselton planners want some commercial uses to be conditional The Braselton Planning Commission wants to make certain uses conditional in the town’s commercial areas. The commission approved a motion April 25 to have a code amendment written that would require conditional use approval for restaurant drive-ins, auto repair shops, convenience stores and gas stations in commercial zones throughout the Town of Bra selton. The town already has two commercial overlay districts along the Hwy. 211 and Hwy. 53 corridors where certain commercial uses are required to have special permission. If ultimately approved by the Braselton Town Council, the restric tions would extend city wide. The commission also vot ed to have the town’s plan ning staff draft a new policy on how the board should handle future development project deferrals. Often, a development project is slat ed for a commission meet ing, but then pulled at the last minute to be deferred until a later date. See Planners, page 12A MAILING LABEL Braselton Plans for potential mill project nearing completion, funding not yet determined Here are preliminary architectural designs presented to the Braselton Town Council back in 2021 fora possible renovation and expansion of the old mill in downtown Braselton. By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com Architectural plans are in the works for a possible renovation and expansion of Braselton’s historic En terprise Roller Mill, though no money is attached to the potential project. Town manager Jennifer Scott spoke to architects recently who told her that building plans for the mill, located at Hwy. 53 and Davis St. downtown, were “pretty close” to being final ized. “We’re trying to keep, of course, the project within a range where the construction costs are feasible,” she said. Scott said she expects to have an idea of construction costs by June and a timetable for bids if the project were to be funded in the town's capi tal budget this year. A renovation project for the mill, likely built in the early 1900s, could be eligi ble for grant funding, too. “But you have to have the plans and the construction estimate before you can do any of that,” Scott said. Scott said it's difficult to find grants for construction related to historic buildings and much easier to acquire money for planning. The town, however, has had past success with Com munity Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding with its renovation of the Bra selton Brothers Store, which See Mill, page 3A National Historic Preservation Month Walking tours continue to teach Braselton history By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com Braselton leaders have pre served several of the town's long-standing downtown structures over the years, but they're making sure the sto ries of those landmarks are being told, too. The town will again of fer its historic walk tours in May to educate citizens about downtown historical sites. “We love doing our walks and getting people into down town learning about the his tory of our town, meanwhile discovering what is here to day.” said Amy Pinnell, Bra- selton's community develop ment director. “And hopefully they learn a little something and have a fun time with us along the way.” This year's walking tour dates are May 5 (10:30 a.m. to noon), May 20 (10:30 a.m. to noon) and May 24 (6- 7:30 p.m.). There’s also a trol ley tour option available on each of those dates and times. Pinnell, who helps lead the tours, said the town holds staff-led tours at least once a year and has planned them in concert with National Histor ic Preservation Month in May in more recent years. This year’s main tour stops are Enterprise Roll er Mill, which downtown leaders say is a rare exam ple of an early-20th century steam-powered rolling mill built around 1900, and the W. H. Braselton home, which houses Braselton Town Hall. The two-story Neoclassical Revival style home was built in 1913 by one of the three founding Braselton brothers. The tour will also high light Braselton’s renovated 1904 building, the original structure of the Braselton Brothers Store building. The structure’s name bears its construction date. “We're changing up the tour a tittle bit to make sure that we step inside and kind of look at those historic things,” Pinnell said of the 1904. “We'll be able to see the old safe that was in the Braselton store, and the bank the Bra- seltons opened up inside the department store.” The town’s May 5 tour will include lunch at Braselton Brewing Company, a historic structure itself having once served as a cotton gin. During the early days of See Tours, page 3A '0 4 8 7 9 1 4 5 4 0
