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Council moving forward with downtown project
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THESE PINE TREES in depot park will be removed soon by city crews.
City leaders are wasting no time in moving forward with some of the plan proposed by residential and community designer Lew Oliver and his team, which was recently presented.
Oliver’s conceptual plan for downtown development centers on the now vacant train depot in the center of the downtown business district.
Oliver and his team have put forward a plan where the depot could be transformed into a food hall with numerous vendors offering a variety of food and drink. An outdoor space with a lawn and tent structure including a band stand and LED screen is also featured in the conceptual plan.
The noted community designer has also recommended removing the pine trees in the depot park and replacing them with live oaks.
On Monday night, the city council addressed phase one of the project.
Mayor Howard Thrower III, said the depot is the “central aspect of the whole plan.” While the mayor is supporting moving forward, he noted that the council was not being asked to approve the Oliver plan. “This is just a first step,” the mayor said.
Councilman Jerry Cox, who participated in both of the sessions with Oliver and his team earlier this month, agreed and said, “This is not a finite plan. It is a guide to a plan.”
Cox said the original plan of the city staff was to gut the interior of the depot which fits into what Oliver has suggested.
In addition to the interior of the depot, Cox also said he would like to include work to begin on the green space, which would be an ideal setting for downtown events such as those hosted by the Mainstreet program prior to the pandemic.
Councilman James H. (Jimmy) Douglas cautioned about doing too much that may infringe on what potential developers would want to do in developing the property.
“The pines have got to come down,” Cox said. He said work on developing the green space could come later. Cairo city manager Chris Addleton agreed the city could move forward with taking out the trees and he said city forces could do the work.
The city would solicit bids for the gutting of the interior of the depot to take it back to its historic shell.
Under Addleton’s proposal, the depot would remain city property and would be managed by the Downtown Development Authority. Councilman Douglas questioned this and noted that the DDA and downtown merchants had been a part in the design for the South Broad Street streetscape project, but it has been the council that has received all the complaints about the parking situation downtown.
“The intent was for (Mainstreet Director) Alyssa (Blakley) to manage the project with input from DDA,” Addleton said. The city manager said certainly the council would be kept informed of the plans going forward.
Councilman Douglas also voiced his opinion that only six-day-a-week retail needs to be the end result for the depot. “Just open on Friday and Saturday is not going to bring folks downtown,” he said.
“To attract development and retailers we have got to have a plan and this plan shows the council supports it,” Councilman Cox said. “We need to take this first step,” he added.
Cox offered a motion to proceed with the demolition and razing the trees which was seconded by Councilman Bobby Gwaltney and the motion passed unanimously.
According to Addleton, the project can be financed with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax proceeds.
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