Newspaper Page Text
The Braselton News
Page 3A
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Hospital addition
NGHS seeks local art to feature in new patient tower
Northeast Georgia Health
System (NGHS) has put
out a call for local artists
to submit their work for a
chance to have it featured in
Northeast Georgia Medical
Center-Gainesville’s new,
11-story tower. The new
tower is set to open in 2025.
According to a press re
lease from NGHS, the goal
of adding artwork across
the 11 floors is to enhance
the emotional well-being of
patients, families and staff.
The artwork selected will
reflect local views of nature
in northeast Georgia.
Up to four digital images
or photos can be submitted
by each artist at nghs.com/
art and must be a minimum
size of 20 inches by 20 inch
es. The art submitted should
be an existing piece of work
to show the artist’s style and
should meet one of the fol
lowing mediums: oil, acryl
ic. pastel, watercolor. glass,
mosaic tile, photography,
metal or mixed media.
Artwork should be in full
color, and depict recogniz
Courtesy of NGHS
Pictured is a rendering of the new patient tower at Northeast Georgia Medical Center-Gainesville. The hospital seeks art to display
in the hospital addition.
able landscapes, includ
ing orchards, waterscapes,
florals and garden scenes
that represent the local ge
ography and topography.
Preference will be given
to artists living or working
locally in Banks, Barrow,
Dawson, Forsyth, Franklin,
Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall.
Jackson, Lumpkin, Rabun,
Stephens, Towns, Union
and White counties. The
deadline to submit is May
31.
For more information
about the new tower, visit
nghs.com/growing. To sub
mit artwork, visit nghs.com/
art.
Local history
Hoschton historic
committee to
determine cost of
Darby Building repairs
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
The Hoschton Historic
Preservation Committee
(HPC) continues to consid
er improvements to a small,
century-old downtown
structure and hopes to have
a cost estimate for the work
later this month.
The HPC looks to con
vert the Darby Building —
located along Hwy. 53 next
to the city’s historic depot
— into a small museum
that would operate during
festivals. The committee,
which discussed the proj
ect at its April 27 meeting,
plans to compile a total cost
projection for all interior
and exterior improvements,
which include painting and
flooring work, to review at
its next meeting. The group
hopes to have the painting
completed this month.
A cost estimate for the
work from 2019, which
didn’t include labor, was
approximately $12,000.
The HPC is also con
sidering the addition of a
porch, while a business
owner, Juan Santiago, ad
dressed the HPC with a
related idea. He said Four
Brothers cocktail lounge,
which is renting the adja
cent depot from the city,
wants to add a deck to
the Darby Building to be
used as a stage during city
events. The business would
fund the stage project. Four
Brothers has plans to use
the depot deck, which per
formers have used previ
ously, for seating.
Santiago said Four
Brothers looks to fundraise
to help pay for the proj
ect, which he estimated at
$5,500. He said Four Broth
ers would provide a render
ing of the stage to the HPC
before its next meeting.
The Darby Building,
which has been moved
multiple times, dates back
over 100 years to its origi
nal location on City Square,
where its former owner, Jim
Darby, operated a shop.
CORRECTION
HPC member Carol Tan
ner said the old Hoschton
Historic Preservation Com
mission raised over $30,000
over a decade ago in funds
for the Darby Building,
not $15,000, as stated in a
March 29 Braselton News
story.
Planners continued from 1A
June 19 to allow the ap
plicants, Keith Bell and
Chad Bell, more time to
submit additional infor
mation.
Planning commission
member Johnny Var
ner called the proposal
“too vague,” while fel
low commission member
Chris Braswell agreed
that more specifics were
needed.
“If you’re open to work
ing with us, we’re open to
working with you to gath
er more details,” Braswell
said to Chad Bell at Mon
day’s planning commis
sion meeting.
The proposal calls for
an agri-entertainment
business featuring a three-
acre corn maze, pumpkin
patch, wagon rides, chil
dren’s activities and a
walk-through Christmas
light tour. Other features
would include a jumping
pillow, a playground, a
corn pit, a picnic area and
wagon-ride farm tours of
the property.
Chad Bell told the plan
ning commission the land
has been in his family for
a “couple hundred years.”
“We’re being surround
ed by commercial devel
opment down there with
warehouses,” Bell said.
“... So we would like to
kind of propose an idea
to have more of a park
idea, having people come
in and enjoy a little bit of
agriculture space instead
another warehouse or
another development of
townhomes.”
Two residents spoke
against the project, voic
ing concerns about traf
fic. operating hours,
lighting and potential
noise.
Hall County planning
staff has recommended
denial of the proposal,
contending that the busi
ness is inconsistent with
the future land use clas
sification of Lake Area
Residential character
area in the county’s com
prehensive plan.
Area news
The Cancer Foundation
announces new executive director
Joey Trippe will serve as executive director of The
Cancer Foundation, which serves residents in the
northeast Georgia area.
The Cancer Foundation
(TCF) recently announced
that Joseph “Joey” Tripp
has been named executive
director of the organization
effective April 24.
Tripp is responsible for
overseeing the administra
tion, fundraising, programs
and the strategic plan of the
organization.
“Joey brings a wealth of
knowledge to The Cancer
Foundation and will play a
key role as TCF continues
executing its mission of
providing financial assis
tance to cancer patients and
their families.”, says Joel
Gregory. TCF Board Pres
ident. “Joey is closely con
nected to our mission. His
understanding of the value
of our mission paired with
his experience and under
standing of regional growth
will be a tremendous asset
to TCF going forward.”
Tripp has a master of
arts in nonprofit manage
ment from the University
of Georgia and brings with
him over 10 years of ex
perience in the non-profit
sector. Prior to joining The
Cancer Foundation, Joey
served as the Director of
Development for The War
rior Alliance in Atlanta.
From 2016-19, he served in
various roles for the Amer
ican Red Cross in Gaines
ville. He is board secre
tary of the Rotary Club of
Gainesville, co-chair for
the Rotary District 6910
Awards and a member of
Out Georgia Business Al
liance.
“I am honored to join
The Cancer Foundation
and work alongside of the
dedicated staff and board
members to support those
impacted by cancer in
Northeast Georgia,” says
Mr. Tripp. “Cancer affects
everyone, and I am com
mitted to our mission.”
Tripp is the third execu
tive director in the 14-year
history of the organization.
TCF provides emergen
cy financial assistance for
basic life needs for families
facing cancer in a 25-coun
ty region of northeast
Georgia. This coverage
area includes Banks. Bar-
row, Jackson and Madison
counties.
Submitted
Shown is a conceptual rendering of what renovations to the former Larry’s Garage property at the
corner of Hwy. 53 and West Broad St. in Hoschton might look like. Developer Matt Ruppel, who is in
terested in rehabbing the structure, presented this drawing to the Hoschton Downtown Development
Authority on Monday (May 8).
Building continued from 1A
“So, what we propose to
the town is to really give us
the opportunity to work for
90 days to really give you
a better, definitive idea of
what our vision and plan
might be and see if we can
partner in the process to
renovate and redevelop and
put this thing to use.”
Ruppel said the initial
work would center around
identifying a layout and
floor plan “and mak(ing)
sure everybody buys in.” He
added that complete archi
tectural plans would come
approximately six months
later.
One possibility Ruppel
discussed was a section of
the building housing two
to three restaurants sharing
a common kitchen. Rup
pel also wants to honor the
property’s history, noting
that the DelaPerrieres — a
prominent Hoschton family
— once had a cotton stor
age loft in the building. He
said he wanted to make that
area “a real feature” of the
renovated structure.
The City of Hoschton
purchased the Larry’s Ga
rage building in May 2022
with a vision of using it for
a city market with restau
rant and retail spaces. It
looked to sell the property
to Cole Hudgens, who had
a similar concept, in De
cember 2022, but the deal
did not materialize.