Jones, who is originally from Cedartown, addressed the crowd about the ways he and other planners are highlighting historical aspects of Downtown Cedartown in the project. His presentation was entitled, “Adding History to Streetscape Improvements.”
Jones began by describing that a landscape architect is not someone that places decorative plants and trees around homes, rather he does public work and longterm government funded projects. He has recently worked on a streetscape project in East Atlanta, as well as the Rome Town Green, adjacent to the Forum, in Rome.
“People are looking for a different experience when they go out to shop these days,” Jones said. “The days of the closed in mall are coming to an end.” He said that communities are getting back to open spaces like those found in older downtown areas, and he stated this is evident with the popularity of shopping centers rather than an enclosed mall.
For his presentation, Jones mostly focused on the ways that history would be retained and incorporated into the streetscape project.
In the past, large government projects would tear down anything without concern for the history of a place in order to finish the project. Jones stated that the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 stopped all that.
Jones used the example of the East Atlanta streetscape because of that area being the location of the Battle of Atlanta during the Civil War. Likewise, the Rome Town Green incorporated Cherokee history as well as the history Rome’s three rivers.
For the most part, history will be incorporated into the Cedartown project by way of interpretive panels. There will be five new panels placed at various locations.
Jones looked through the archives at the Polk County Historical Society Museum for photographs that went into the design of the interpretive panels. The five panels are titled, “Cobb’s Corner,” “Everyone Loves a Parade,” “Images of Yesteryear,” “Houses of Worship Downtown,” and “Before the Mall.” There will also be a panel explaining the history of Cedartown, as well as a “Welcome to Cedartown” panel with a map and downtown directory. Jones added that any existing historical markers will remain in place.
“The panels are how we want to bring history into this project,” Jones said. “We felt this was a nice thing to share.”
Additionally, the streetscape projects will strategically place new trees to open up the downtown area and show off historic buildings. The trees are Everclear Elms, which Jones called “a nice vertical shade tree, so they won’t crowd the buildings.” Also, he stated some flowering cherry trees may also be incorporated.
“The trees may be a bit off center if you look at them closely, but the point is to show off the buildings,” Jones said.
Planners are intending to make several of the side streets off Main Street one-way so they can put in some angular parking. “This will also provide room for benches, historical markers and other things,” Jones said.
Jones said planners hope to have the project completed by the end of the year.
Then spend money in a way that brings actual socioeconomic return.
A park and strip mall are the way to go, with a MUCH wider Main Street the bonus.
The Streetscape plan is foolhardy at best...
Any new buildings on the east side facing main could be built all at once in a strip shopping fashion but with presentable architecture close to what now exists. This would provide head-in parking for both side.
Second option would be to take the fron half of all East side stores and rebuild the from with same designs.
Third option would be to make Philpot easier to travel. Take out any dips and extend it to MLK.
One way streets and restrictive turns are not popular and in this case not an answer. Probably would just deliver the death blow to any downtown.
Another thing that hurts is the amount of traffic forced through TOWN just to pick up a burger or groceries. On south side there are a lot of people actually living in neighborhoods from Moores all the way to the Paulding county line but no grocery store south of Caseys and no franchise fast food south of Bojangles.
Many people on the south side drive to Bremen to shop and some even to eat.
And you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down
on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.
Up the street beside that red neon light,
That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night.
He was the tender and I ordered a beer,
It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here.
But you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down
on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.
It's here I had my babies and I had my first kiss.
I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist.
Over there is where I bought my first car.
It turned over once but then it never went far.
And I can see the sun's settin' fast,
[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/6C2 ]
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down
on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.
I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa.
They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall.
I bring them flowers about every day,
but I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say.
If they could see how the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down
on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.
Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly.
But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes.
I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go.
I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul.
But I can see the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on, I gotta kiss you goodbye,
But I'll hold to my lover,
'Cause my heart's 'bout to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town.
I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
Yeah well keep on dreaming. I'm a baby boomer. Back when they originally planted the first trees on main and spent all those tax dollars fixing the sidewalks we heard the same thing, "revitalize". Didn't happen and ain't going to happen now. The most that will be there is place like lawyers offices and such. Even those are one step away from relocating id a new court ever relocates.
Back in the day when the bus station was there, a real depot was there and such things were different. That's the key word you need to learn, different. Now even the banks, save one, have fled. The post office has outgrown and wanted to expand but the city invoked the "Historic Building" thingy on to the dilapidated house behind it and so now it cannot build onto so now what with that situation?
It's dead, bury it or keep wasting money or tear down some for parking.
GOODBYE!!!!!!!!! You need to worry about your own life.
Geez.
What mall? Polk has never had a mall unless you count the old Jockey building, old Benedict school or the old Brewster school. Oh and what does the "popularity of shopping centers" have to do with downtown?
More waste.