The Athens Downtown Development Authority (ADDA) has submitted an $8.5 million proposal to the Athens-Clarke County government outlining several improvements to College Square. The project will transform College Avenue between Broad and Clayton streets into “a people-focused public open space that supports the vitality of downtown.” The ADDA plans to seek public input at a later date.
The project aims to extend the tranquil atmosphere of North Quad into downtown and city hall. In spring 2021, the ACC Mayor and Commission decided to permanently close College Square to vehicle traffic after a six-month pilot project amidst the COVID-19 pandemic converted the space into a pedestrian and dining plaza.
The ADDA has contracted Smith Planning Group to render the new designs for College Square, which will be presented to the mayor and commission in October. Sample images were distributed at ADDA’s Sept. 21 meeting with reports from David Lynn, the director of planning and outreach. These concepts include enhanced seating, a flexible-use space for concerts and festivals, refined stormwater capability, pavement textural changes and increased green infrastructure. The board also wants to improve the functionality of walking spaces by removing or reconstructing existing café barriers, for instance, with a velvet rope design.
“I think the public expects us to create this plaza into something more beautiful than it is now,” Lynn said.
Regarding the streetscape around city hall, it’s likely that the entire block of Washington Street between College Avenue and North Lumpkin Street will be redeveloped with added greenery and seating. Moreover, Smith Planning Group has suggested converting the vacant bus kiosk into a streetcar-style diner.
The future of downtown parking looks different as well. Data revealed that 80% of current parking meter users pay with credit cards, while only 20% pay with cash. Due to this variation, the ADDA board is considering a pilot program where users pay for parking through a mobile app. Parkmobile is the app that UGA uses for all of its visitor decks. Downtown might move in the same direction, exclusively taking digital payment as more people, especially younger generations, move away from cash. Aside from changing demographics, labor costs for managing parking meters are also becoming a liability.
Vice Chairman Drew Dekle voiced his concerns over this project. “When my mom was driving [downtown] every day, there was no way that she was gonna use her credit card for a dollar charge,” Dekle said. “I just hate people skipping coming to Athens because they couldn’t park.”
Furthermore, the ADDA has allocated leftover funds from the $250,000 Community Enhancement Program toward three fall events: The Hispanic Heritage Month Festival on Sept. 30, the Chess-a-Thon a Battle Royale on Oct. 14 (both located on College Square) and the Steam Roller Print Event on Oct. 28 (located at the Lyndon House Art Center). Each event will receive $2,000.All events must follow the rules within the city’s festival zone ordinance, which was made permanent a few months ago. The ordinance states that festival zones, used during special events, may be no larger than four consecutive blocks where each of the blocks are touching. While the board is currently in the discussion phase of expanding festival zones, other parties, like the police department, will contribute to this decision as well. At the very least, certain language in the ordinance will need alteration to apply to events that don’t follow linear pathways.
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