About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2011)
Open at 1pm on Christmas Book Now for NewYear’s Eve! TENPINSTAVERN.COM 706-546-8090 2451 Jefferson Road The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine Community Pet Clinic Helping to train tomorrow's veterinarians We are a full-service small animal clinic offering: • Routine spays/neuters for dogs and cats • Dermatology and Behavior services • Competitive pricing • Kasv referral to me UCiA Veterinary Teaching I lospital if needed Open Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Bv appointment: 706.542.1984 Drop-offs tind ivalk-ins welcome WHAT’S UP IN NEW DEVELOPMENT At least twice a week I've driven the stretch of road that a Walmart may soon inhabit. Sunday mornings, coming in from Winterville to go to church, this was always the gateway to the city. In design school, I looked at the site several different ways, and later on, some of that work was adapted by the Blue Heron folks to illustrate their concepts. But I didn't antici pate just how central this one site was—how many questions it would raise about the fundamental nature of this town, where it's been and where it's headed. Of course, when we look at that one painting from Carr's Hill, we see it's the place where Athens began 200 years ago, give or take a decade, so maybe it's fitting that it should all come back to this spot. The anti-Walmart rhetoric here isn't the same argument heard everywhere else in the country; it's an endemic strain I that is based around a desire to defend the hand-crafted local character for which Athens has become world-renowned over the past few decades. It's also complicated by a sense of what could be. Had conversations about public economic develop- | ment initiatives not been so forcibly ripped off the table a few j months ago, and instead been allowed to run their course, would that idea of a River District have remained as strong a concept? Did the idea that got away grow in the retelling? The concerns about traffic likewise tread upon the aspira- tional. Current plans call for five different greenway routes, including rail and riparian ones, to converge in the vicinity of the Armstrong & Dobbs tract, where the Atlanta firm Selig's mixed-use development will be situated. Our multimodal transportation center is just across the street, and a potential extension of Hickory Street, allowing efficient and convenient access over to UGA's Jackson Street bus mall, is supposed to pass through the site, too, though Selig has yet to incorporate it. Those ideas about what could be are bundled up with the very practical present issue of too many cars on too narrow a road. The bridges along Oconee Street are very real choke- points that have defined this city's evolution and growth so far, and will determine where we go from here. Even the notion of historic preservation is differently framed here, with the destruction proposed not just of a der elict landmark, but of one with a regionally, if not nationally known local company still inside! The question of a structure's value becomes so much different when the argument involves a thriving local business, rather than simply a shell that stands in the way of this particular sort of progress. Here, the conver sation has the potential to revolve around taking something that already works and growing it, rather than inventing wholesale new uses, which is often the case with buildings in need of preservation. Things could have played out a little differently, if the poli ticians, realtors, developers and others who knew the details of this project ahead of time had pulled Selig into the public conversation about the area that was already in progress, rather than ending that one so that this one could begin. Maybe it's too idealistic, but suppose Selig had said, "We've heard about your river district, and we'd like to be a part of it," loudly and publicly, rather than whispering for months until a permit for demolition thrust their project into the day light. Although many, myself included, would love to see such a partnership come to pass, the initial perception caused by the approach Selig did take has been hard to overcome. Here, we have the choice to let business proceed as usual, or to cre ate a new way of doing things that overcomes the cycle of reaction. For a great many around town (including the 10,000 or so residents determined enough to have signed a petition), the status quo is better than what's been proposed. But it took something as totally intolerable as a Walmart to bring fully into comprehension just how much value the status quo already has, and what could be lost. There's a door that's open here, but it'll take developers and community working together to fully realize something better. This project has the poten tial to be a catalyst not only for downtown, but for the entire community, if executed correctly. A tax allocation district funded by the project would generate millions of dollars, funding improvements, amenities and infrastructure that could lay groundwork for so many other good things to happen. The community has to trust Selig for that to happen, and Selig has to earn that trust by truly listening to what they're hearing, and incorporating that feedback into its proposal in a mean ingful way. While claims of new sales tax money are somewhat specious (who is going to drive past one of the other two Walmarts to bring new money into the county?), the property tax revenue that a development of this scale would generate would carry the weight of a new SPLOST, generating a lot of new construc tion jobs over the coming years while laying the groundwork for the sorts of office development that we were all talking about a few months back. It might allow the broadening of our economy, with a diversity of good jobs to ensure we're not the poorest urban county in the country again. This is the spot where Athens started, with layers of soil piled over granite, across which clear flowing springs once traveled. Who knows what we'll find under that soil soon, when Selig begins the process of constructing its development, whatever shape it takes? Athens has its fair share of problems, some endemic and some the same as everywhere, but I can't think of a better place to try to start over. Kevan Williams athensrising@flagpole.com EARTH-FRIENDLY • WATER-WISE ORGANIC GARDENING fl SOME GROW , as)a{hobby, WE 1 DOllTj£pR |a living} ra HYDROPONICS Bring Your Plants Indoors for the Winter! We have fluorescent, LED & High Intensity Discharge grow lights perfect for overwintering! www.FloraHydroponics.com • Mon-Sat 10am-6pm Now Open in Atlanta! 1239 Fowler St. 404-532-0001 Athens • 195 Paradise Blvd. Behind Terrapin Brewery 706-353-2223 Athens first began in this part of town. Could this also be the site of its renaissance? 6 FLAGPOLE.COM-DECEMBER 21, 2011
