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CITY PA GES
FARMING IT OUT
Tne Farmers Building's Future
Now that Farmers Hardware has moved
out to their shiny new Wal-Martish box on
Lexington Highway, there is the question of
what will happen to the old Farmers build
ing, that grand old wedge of a structure that
has marked the unofficial eastern end of
downtown Athens since the 1890s.
As of Monday, the Farmers
folks had left a few' splintery pal
lets on the sidewalk, while the
shelves inside the building w p ere
stocked only with the dusty
ghosts of fittings past. It won’t
stay this wav for long.
Maxwell Properties, the
Roswell company that bought the
building from Farmers this spring,
soon will be renovating the build
ing into a multi-use development,
according to Maxwell develop
ment manager Birgitta Adams. The
building tentatively w'ill include
retail spaces — possibly restau
rants. bars or cafes — on the first
floor; 20-30 apar'ments as well as
offices on the second floor, and an open-air
courtyard in the center of the building.
“We’re trying to maintain the historical
integrity of the building and maintain the
interior structures as much as w'e can,”
Adams told Flagpole
Though the Farmers Building is within
two national historic register areas — the
Downtown Athens Historic District and the
Athens Warehouse Historic District — falling
within the boundaries of these areas offers it
no protection, according to Julie Morgan,
ACC historic preservation planner. This
does, however, allow the owner of the build
ing to seek approval for renovations from
the state’s Historic Preservation Division.
If the state division and the National Park
Service approve the plans. Maxwell will be
eligible for tax breaks that include a freeze
on the assessment of the property at pre
renovation levels.
Adams says it’s uncertain whether the
company’s vision will be consistent with
state and federal guidelines, but adds, “Even
if we were not certified, we by all means arc
trying to retain the historical integrity of the
building"
Carroll Beavers, a local Realtor with
Joiner and Associates who is dealing with
interested tenants of the building, says.
“Make sure everybody undet stands and real
izes that it is a downtown Athens landmark,
and that it will be preserved.” (Richard
Fausset)
PARANOID TIME
ACC’s New Surveillance Toys
In March, Marvin “Chuck" Rickard. ACC
traffic signal administrator, oversaw the
installation of five traffic surveillance cam
eras in Athens, gifts of the Georgia
Department of Transportation. The tubular
devices are located high above the corners
of Broad Street and Milledge Avenue,
Hancock and Thomas streets. Broad,
Oconee and Thomas streets, Dougherty
and Pulaski streets, and by the Waffle
House on the Oconee Perimeter.
The cameras cost $12,000 apiece
($18,000 installed). They are capable of
recording, and feed a constant surveillance
signal to a room in the ACC traffic engineer
ing department. But according to ACC traf
fic technician Dennis Lambright, Rickard
was the only city employee who knew what
to do with the technology. And Rickard left
his job in May to w r ork for the city of Macon.
“In all honesty, I don’t know exactly what
the plans [for the cameras] are for Athene."
Lambright said. “In Atlanta they have them
on 285; they can use them to reroute an acci
dent... you can put those signs up to reroute
traffic."
Anything else? Oh, yeah. “The police
department is also going to be tied to this,”
Lambright said. "They’ll use 'em, but I’m
really not sure how.”
So we called Chuck Rickard in Macon.
After letting off a little steam about his expe
rience in Athens (“The city of Athens has a
real problem. They’re not willing to promote
from within, and they’re not willing to pay
people what they’re worth "), Rickard said
the cameras are part of the Georgia DOT’S
“Advanced Traffic Management System,” and
said the DOT also has a fiber-optic linkup to
the Athens cameras.
“What they’re for is so that a traffic engi
neer, if he has problems around town, from
his desk he can call up the camera, make
changes to a traffic signal and :>ee if his
changes make sense or not,” Rickard said. “A
person expert on traffic signals can work on
problems [in two different places] at the
same time."
Rickard said the goal is for Athens to
have traffic management systems similar to
Atlanta’s — systems that allow the govern
ment to handle traffic flow at the scene of an
accident or during a heavily-attended event.
He said that this is where the police come in.
ACC Police Chief Jack Lumpkin called and
explained that the cameras — which will
soon be sending their video feed to police
dispatchers — will be used to help avoid
congestion (ironically, the sniffling chief
sounded a little congested himself)- He said
the cameras could also help with pedestrian
problems, the settling of traffic disputes, and
“other concerns.”
Other concerns?
“If you had a theft, you might be able to
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29, 1998