PAM KEENER
ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
Moving Right Along: Nov.' that the Athens-
Clarke County Mayor and Commission have
voted to hire an architectural firm and
agreed upon a design process that will involve
the community in plans for the expansion of
the Classic Center, it's time to get that process
rolling—and the county's not spinning its
wheels. Less than three days after the vote,
ACC issued a media release announcing a
series of public input meetings on the expan
sion, the first scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 12,
barely a week hence.
scheduled for their Apr. 5 regular session.
That's assuming, of course, that this process
yields a design concept the M&C are happy
with, barring which, they say, they'll send the
architect back to the drawing board.
It's sincerely to be hoped that some of
those same convention- and hospitality-sector
people who showed up at the voting meeting
will come and share their knowledge, expertise
and priorities with the people who have advo
cated for walkable scale and the preservation
of the Hancock-Foundrv connection—and vice
Flagpole's mighty McCommunists advanced to the finals of the ‘‘Athens Business Rocks!" battle-of-the-work-
place-cover-bands competition and will vie for the championship Saturday, Feb. 19 at the 40 Watt. This plug’s
not entirely shameless: the winning band is the one that raises the most money for Nu^i's Space. You can make
a donation—and vote for The McCommunists!—at www.nuci.org.
If that strikes you as a quick turnaround,
you're not alone. But Kelly Girtz, who's done
as much work on this project with citizens and
staff as anybody on the commission, hopes
the rapid timeline will help "carry the momen
tum forward" in terms of public involvement.
"The dialog around this has been pretty rich,
and in some cases specific," he says, and he
believes citizens are well prepared to engage
with designers at this stage of the process.
The Dope will buy that, even if it seems like
the Paul Cramer-orchestrated "hurry-hurry"
performance by more than 20 Classic Center
and hospitality industry workers at last week's
commission meeting (see City Pages, p. 6)
may have had some effect on the decision not
to give folks who want to participate another
week or two to get their ducks in a row.
In any case, this is what we get, accord
ing to the media release: the 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Feb. 12 meeting (the public input sessions
will all be held in the Classic Center) to lay
out the detailed parameters of the project
and its attendant issues, with breakout ses
sions to gather ideas and input; a follow-up
session from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22 to
review "outcomes" from the first session and
collect more ideas and responses; and a 6-9
p.m. Thursday, Mar. 10 session at which "the
process, findings and outcomes" of the previ
ous sessions will be presented and feedback
solicited. The final options arrived at by
this process—at least one that includes the
closing of Hancock Avenue and at least one
that does not—will be presented to the mayor
and commission for review at a special called
work session Tuesday, Mar. 29 in the Planning
Auditorium at 120 Dougherty St, with a
final vote on the M&C's preferred option now
versa—in the true spirit of cooperation.
Girtz says he hopes this process turns out to
be something that can serve as a model for
future civic projects of similar scope; that
sounds good to us.
Remember This Divisive Issue?: It seems like
six months ago that we all were up in arms
about where a SPLOST 2005-funded commu
nity tennis center would be located. When
the M&C finally alighted on Southeast Clarka
Park as the designated site last August, it was
seen by many as a compromise that, while
satisfying opponents of locating the center in
Bishop Park, would also result in a less-than-
ideal facility for serious tennis playing. Of
particular concern was the fact that the new
courts would be located between existing soc
cer fields and busy Lexington Road, creating
problems with noise and lignt.
Those problems would be greatly allevi
ated under a revised plan which would require
the purchase of 10.5 acres of land, mostly
adjacent to the southeast corner of the park,
from Cornerstone Church of God, taking the
facility away from the road and the soccer
fields. The estimated cost of the plan is about
$800,000 more than the $2.3 SPLOST project
budget, including $240,000 for land acquisi
tion and a $150,000 kick-in from Cornerstone
for a shared driveway, for which the county
will contribute $430,000 out of SPLOST 2005
interest revenue. The additional costs would
be offset by avoiding the necessity to remove
and relocate two existing Little League fields
and a planned multipurpose building, part of
the original plan. More on this as it develops.
Dave Marr news@flagpole.com
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FEBRUARY 9, 2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 5
