Smyrna city officials spent much of the past two weeks unveiling a redevelopment plan poised to add more greenspace, a parking deck and a brew pub to the city’s downtown area.
According to the plan, Smyrna would reconfigure Centennial Park at Village Green. The fountain and roundabout in front of the city library would be removed. The city park would be converted to an open garden courtyard with splash pads similar to those at the The Battery Atlanta mixed-use complex.
“This just activates the downtown,” Mayor Derek Norton said of the blueprint. “Thirty years ago, this was created and it was replicated around Atlanta, Gwinnett and other places. This was the model. Now they’ve surpassed us and it’s time to catch up again.”
City officials masterminded the redevelopment with designers from Croy Engineering. Plans were shown to residents during a town hall session Monday night at the Community Center.
Nearly 90 residents attended a June 8 public hearing on the project. About 50 more showed up for the presentation Monday. They submitted suggestions and asked questions about the site plans.
Armed with the public’s input, City Council is expected to vote on the downtown redevelopment plan during its meeting 6 p.m. Monday at the Smyrna Community Center.
The plan, if approved, would reshape Smyrna’s downtown corridor between Powder Springs Street and City Hall.
Stillfire Brewery, a downtown Suwanee tavern, will set up shop in Smyrna along Atlanta Road just across the road from the Community Center. The three-story pub will feature a rooftop bar overlooking downtown.
A three-story, 250-space parking deck will be built just north of the Community Center. Norton said parking there will be free to the public.
A traffic light would be installed at the intersection of Powder Springs Street and Atlanta Road. King Street would be extended several blocks north along the east side of the Community Center all the way to Powder Springs Street. Village Green Circle would become a one-way route feeding traffic onto Atlanta Road. A public restroom would be added near the playground just south of the library.
The redevelopment will be funded by the special purpose local option sales tax. Smyrna voters approved the penny tax in November.
The SPLOST list includes $60.2 million for 19 different transportation, infrastructure, parks and public safety projects. About $13.3 will be split between the downtown plan and infrastructure upgrades along South Cobb Drive. Half of that of that will go toward the downtown area. A separate $4 million was earmarked just for construction of the downtown parking deck.
Residents questioned Norton and Croy Engineering president Greg Teague about security measures, bike racks, traffic safety and the overall aesthetics of a new downtown.
Kay Braswell, who lives near City Hall, welcomed the idea of a downtown redevelopment. Yet she didn’t think the plan covered a large enough area.
“I‘m excited about the energy and something new,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But you can’t put all of that excitement and energy into a little thimble, when you can go all the way down to Belmont (Boulevard) and give some glory to everybody.”
Norton said construction could begin as soon as late October, if City Council approves the plan Monday. He expected the project to be completed by early 2023.
“The area is not really used right now. It’s overgrown, the fountain doesn’t work, the pavers are all beat up,” the mayor said. “We can open that up and have an area that’s like our memorial green extended all the way through to connect pedestrian access to our new brewery and park.”
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