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KE VAN WILLIAMS
ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
A Slow Week, literally: With Athens first blan
keted in snow, then locked in ice, last week
was one during which ordinary activities li' e
walking, driving and getting dressed took on
a sometimes hilarious degree of difficulty. Not
that the near-shutdown of the city was all fun
and games; one shudders to think about its
economic impact at a time when a non-trivial
number of small businesses are a few slow
days away from insolvency. Keep that in mind
as you get back into your normal routines: our
local shops, restaurants and service profes
sionals could probably use an above-average
amount of your consideration right about now.
Classic Center Saga Pt. ??: ACC commission
ers last week took their most formal step thus
far in grappling with issues related to plans
. for the SPlOST-financed Classic Center expan
sion. In a memo addressed to County Manager
Alan Reddish and Classic Center Director Paul
Cramer, as well as their fellow commissioners
and Mayor Nancy Denson, Kelly Girti, Mike
Hamby and Andy Herod laid out some of
their ideas for how the design phase of the
expansion should proceed.
position here, even aside from finding herself
at least nominally at odds with many of her
close friends and strongest supporters in her
recent mayoral campaign. Her instincts and
values direct her to conduct public business
in an open and participatory way, and she
insists that the process of planning for this
expansion, which has indeed been underway
for years, has lived up to that standard. But
Gwen has been a lot closer to that process
than you or the guy down the street, and her
perspective on its, well, publicness is different
from that of even the most civically engaged
citizens, to the vast majority of whom this
plan has only been on the radar since last
summer. In an extensive email exchange after
the FODA meeting, Gwen stressed that while
the cun-ent plan is the result of much care
ful consideration by people she says have the
best interests of Athens at heart, the Classic
Center Authority's participation in the upcom
ing public input process won't be merely
rote. Furthermore, she wrote, “At this time, we
expect to be asking the architect to develop
two scenarios—one keeping Hancock open
and one not.* Combined with the recent ema
A sign of things to come? Don’t worry, construction of the Classic Center expansion across Hancock hasn’t be
gun; the street was closed briefly last week as part of ACC s 2011 roadway-icing initiative.
Requiring the architectural firm to hold
a charrette *to solicit public input prior to
design* is one; constructing user groups "that
reflect a broad cross-section of the public*
for the vetting of SPLOST projects in general
is another. The memo, while not specifying
Hancock Avenue, does stress the impo^ance
of considering the surrounding street
grid, as welt as the "experience* of interact
ing with the design, both from up close and
afar. Also included was the suggestion that
East Dougherty Street, which terminates at
Foundry, "seems a natural passage* for future
connection to Hickory and Willow streets and
the river, as welt as a request that, in the
event that the final plan does include the
dosing of Hancock, "a 'terminating vista,' such
as a monument or fountain, be considered as
part of the design. That last bit was received
less than enthusiastically by dtizens moni
toring the issue, but overall the memo has to
be considered a step in the right direction.
A group of the aforementioned dtizens,
assembled under the banner of "Friends of
Downtown Athens," held a public meeting
at Cin6 Jan. 13 that was attended by Girtz,
as well as Gwen O'looney, the chair of the
Classic Center Authority. Gwen is in a difficult
nations from the commission, again, this has
to be regarded as progress.
The consensus in the field of urban design,
as pointed out in last week's meeting by
soon-to-be Flagpole columnist Katie Goodrum,
is that street dosings that contribute to the
formation of monolithic "superblocks," like the
one planned for Hancock, are terrible ideas.
This process would benefit from some mean
ingful engagement with that field, which, we
hope, is something dtizens can help facilitate
and elected officials will see fit to insist upon.
The State of the State Water Crisis: Anyone
interested in a condse and well-sourced *
update on how the state is currently proceed
ing on the question of whether and how to
regulate interbasin transfers of water should
head over to Georgia River Network's Georgia
Water Wire blog (www.gawaterwire.wordpress.
com), where Ben Emanuel has nicely laid it
out in six paragraphs with copious background
links. At issue, among other things, is whether
proposed DNR rules governing IBTs (in the
absence of actual legislation, which fell by the
wayside last session) will have any teeth.
Dm Marr news@tiagpoie.com
eatured artist I Michaei Lease
■ Tai Ml
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flagpole
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nmUHTOT EI/EMT tHFD:
Saturday Jan. 22, 2010
6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Pre-Opening event;
UAU4 WITH ME: ATHENS
Jo*n local artwt Hop* MNton as sh* Wwd# •
participatory wa* tn and around to* Chaaa Par*
neighborhood Walk back to to* opening and be
tha Nr*l to poa» your eraik daacncbon on the Wafr
me Athens was m the gakary
Fra*!
7:00-9:00 p.m.
OPENING RECEPTION:
Coma maat artists A enjoy exotic vegan muncfx**
Sunday Jan. 30, 2010
3:00 pm
MIRROR MOB:
Coma taka pari in a Unique Group Photo
Bring your own mirror!
Create Art - Create Opportunity
This event produced in conjunction with lo
cal business Deal Mobs
Photos wiN be available tor purchase during
the exNbrt run as a fundraiser tor a small
business incubator Deta^ TBA
Free?
Do You Want to Stop
Drinking Alcohol?
• We are conducting a study on a medication for treating alcohol
problems.
• Participation will include five in-person assessments, including four
sessions of individual outpatient treatment for alcohol problems.
• There is no cost for the treatment.
• You will be asked to take a medication or placebo on two occasions.
Call 706-542-8350 for more information.
The University of Georgia
JANUARY 19,2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 5
