CITY RECEIVES TWO LANDMARKS AWARDS

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On June 21st, the City of Thomasville was honored to be selected as a winner of two Landmarks 2018 Preservation Awards. An Award of Stewardship was received for the Restoration of Downtown Brick Streets, as well as an award for Contributing Addition to the Community for the Construction of the Amphitheater and Trailhead.

The City of Thomasville received the Award of Stewardship for its effort to exhume a piece of Thomasville’s past. The City’s Engineering Department designed and executed an asphalt removal project uncovering bricks on Downtown streets which date back to the early 1900’s and which were paved over in the 1950’s. The goal of this project was to restore the brick streets and contribute to Downtown Thomasville’s historic atmosphere, as well as to address potential safety concerns. “Busy pedestrian and vehicle traffic can cause congestion Downtown, so exposing the brick slows down traffic to help promote safe driving,” said Thomasville City Engineer, Wayne Newsome. “Asphalt removal also opened up the opportunity to perform additional street work, including adding additional parking and curb replacement.”

Accomplishing this was no small feat, and the effort was the result of two separate projects completed within the last three years. The first project spanned from March to April of 2015 and included Remington Avenue from Madison to Broad Street involving the removal of several layers of asphalt and the repair and replacement of native Thomasville bricks. The project also included the addition of bulb-outs as well as video detection traffic signal to replace the loop detectors which are usually placed under asphalt.

The second phase was larger in scale, beginning in June of 2016 and concluding in December. This project was on Broad Street from Remington to Smith Avenue and included everything that went into the first project, as well as the replacement of curbs and gutters and the addition of handicap and angled parking spaces. Both asphalt removal projects were funded from a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. “Restoring more of Downtown’s historical character, the uncovering of the bricks has increased local and visitor traffic, connecting the shops and restaurants, therefore generating more tourism dollars to our city,” said Main Street Director, April Norton.

The Contributing Addition to the Community award was received on behalf of the construction of the Amphitheater and Trailhead, located at the center of The Bottom. Bisected by West Jackson Street, The Bottom was a place where African American and Jewish merchants operated business during segregation. Today it serves as the City’s creative district, and its historic yet edgy, industrial feel has attracted several new businesses that help foster that spirit.

Improvements to the Bottom began in 2014 following the “Arts District Charrette,” Thomasville’s first ever organized charrette: an intensive, multi-day public input process that allows participants to work projects from conception to final rendering. It was through this initiative that Thomasville residents determined that the overgrown field in the center of the district should be utilized to serve as the heart of the Creative District. At the end of the three day process conceptual drawings were pinned to the walls displaying plans for a new downtown amphitheater and multi-use trailhead.

“The overall plan was quite ambitious,” said Brian Herrmann, City Planner for the City of Thomasville. “It involved Thomasville Planning, Thomasville Main Street, Thomasville Center for the Arts, and Thomasville Landmarks.”

The four major projects that comprise the plan have either been completed, nearly completed, or are in the detailed planning and construction phase.

Nearly three years to the day after the charrette, the Amphitheater was completed and hosted the 2017 Due South music festival. “This would have never been possible were it not for the way in which the charrette process relies on citizen input to develop a final vision,” said Herrmann. “It was the public that requested that the architecture be in keeping with the surroundings, as opposed to the traditional Victorian style that the City is so well known for.”

Constructed primarily of concrete, metal and brick, the design of the Amphitheater has a warehouse esthetic which lends itself to the overall look of The Bottom. A metal barrel roof was also added to the restroom building in keeping with this theme. The stage was designed to look like an original building that was later converted. Old fashioned inlays were added to allow for murals.

Old alleyways were re-established as a way of allowing food trucks to activate along the edge of the space during events. A massive grand oak was preserved and highlighted as a focal point. “This made it clear that the Bottom was to be a pedestrian friendly area,” said Herrmann.

“These improvements have attracted a wealth of new businesses including eclectic retail shops, fitness salon and spa, an outdoor store, knitting shop, rolled ice cream parlor, hair salons, computer shop, bagel eatery, gourmet pet shop, boutiques, bike store and craft beer bar – also bringing life to the Maker industry in Thomasville,” said Norton. These new businesses now neighbor long-time residents including a shoe and leather repair shop, brass repair shop, barber shop, and downtown dry cleaners. “Pedestrian traffic has increased dramatically with these new improvements and additions, proving that investing into the community through public improvement projects lead to private investment, filling storefronts with new businesses and creating new jobs,” said Norton.

The City of Thomasville is honored to have received accreditation for these two projects and has plans to continue innovating and improving Thomasville for its citizens.


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