Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hatcher is in the early stages of examining the 15 potential blight projects that span across six of the nine Macon-Bibb County Commission districts.
The list includes creating a potential park on Houston Avenue, redeveloping properties in the Bellevue neighborhood, and making improvements behind Williams Elementary School in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood that would create a walkable environment for students.
Meanwhile some commissioners already have pledged money toward restoring the Clinton Street auditorium into a community center that will be part of an arts village. Another idea on Hatcher's list ties into plans already underway at the former Hunt Elementary School on Shurling Drive.
"That whole area is getting a facelift with the Hunt senior housing project getting off the ground very soon," Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Elaine Lucas said.
One of the goals would be finding an investor who's able to renovate some of the neighborhood's homes into a cottage community, she said.
Another of the 15 possible projects is building a small community center in the east Macon neighborhood of Kings Park that could serve as a "catalyst" for some redevelopment in the neighborhood, Lucas said.
Plans for neighborhood revitalization also will take place in Commissioner Larry Schlesinger's district that includes sections of downtown as well as south and east Macon. He has described his neighborhood as the "kingdom of blight" with about 390 structures considered blighted, according to a list of properties identified by the county.
"Anytime we can get some type of public-private partnership to address these situations, I think we're probably going to be more effective," Schlesinger said.
One of Schlesinger's goals is to team up with a neighborhood organization to turn a now-blighted lot into a park. Another idea is to collaborate with Habitat for Humanity in the Lynmore Estates neighborhood where the nonprofit has had a presence for years,
Some of the other prospective projects Hatcher is surveying include creating a recreation field in Pleasant Hill, and a street connection in an area known as Booger Bear Bottom. Several streets in that Unionville community are blocked off from Straight Street. Reconnecting them might "redevelop the (community) into a neighborhood again," Hatcher said.
Some Bibb County commissioners on Tuesday supported a plan to spend $4.6 million in projects aimed at fighting blight.
The 15 projects include plans that would bring parks, community centers and affordable housing to some of Macon's struggling neighborhoods.
The money will help demolish more than 200 run-down homes and help clear dozens of vacant lots.
The county's Economic and Community Development Committee voted to approve the 15 projects Tuesday morning; they still need approval from the full commission.
County officials say decaying, dilapidated buildings and overgrown lots bring crime and vandalism to many neighborhoods and lower property values. Last year, commissioners approved a plan to spend $9 million on anti-blight projects.
Funds for the 15 plans before the commission would come from that pot of money.
The Macon-Bibb County Commission gave the green light Tuesday to spend $4.4 million and concentrate the money on 15 blight projects.
Commissioners agreed to target 254 individual properties that include overgrown lots and dilapidated structures. Tuesday's approval means the county can begin to acquire properties that will be turned into parks, new housing and other redevelopment.
Commissioner Elaine Lucas credited the work of Commissioner Bert Bivins, who serves as chairman of an ad hoc blight committee, and others for making sure money was geared toward neighborhoods where people have complained about blight for years.
"This is a historic moment," Lucas said after the meeting. "This is the first part and with the approval of (more funding), we will be able to do so much more to make sure we better those neighborhoods that need it."
Bivins said he is glad to get to a point of commissioners approving actual projects.
"We're going to do what we can to improve those areas, especially poor neighborhoods in our city," he said.
Each of nine commissioners has $1 million in bond money that they can spend on fighting blight across Macon-Bibb County. The largest amount of money designated Tuesday is about $813,000 to renovate the Bibb Mill auditorium and turn it into the centerpiece of a planned arts village in east Macon.
Another major project involves clusters of 38 properties stretching from near the Tindall Heights neighborhood and Mercer University to an area near Second Street and Pio Nono Avenue. Commissioner Virgil Watkins is using $710,000 of his bond money for the project, which will involve demolishing 35 structures, rehabbing two houses and clearing a lot.
Watkins also plans to spend money on a revolving loan fund.
"I have $150,000 earmarked for (my district). In case there is an individual interested in doing development, we have the revolving loan fund set up," Watkins said Monday.
For a complete list of the projects approved Tuesday, go to macon.com.
To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter
Here are the 15 blight projects approved Tuesday by the Macon-Bibb County Commission. Some projects would require additional money to complete.
$710,018 for clusters of properties stretching from near the Tindall Heights neighborhood and Mercer University to an area near Second Street and Pio Nono Avenue. It will involve demolishing 35 structures, rehabbing two houses and clearing a lot.
$813,000 to renovate the Bibb Mill auditorium and turn it into the centerpiece of a planned arts village in east Macon.
$171,232 for the Hunt School senior housing support project. The money would clear 12 blighted structures and two lots around the Shurling Drive senior housing project.
$314,128 for Jeffersonville Road blight removal. Funds would demolish 18 structures for future development.
$184,312 to stabilize Third Avenue. This project includes demolishing structures to provide buildable lots in support of the reworking of the connector at interstates 75 and 16.
$121,994 for Culver Street Commons. This would replace 22 blighted buildings and vacant lots near Vineville Avenue with recreation fields.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
