by Dana Wilbourn
posted May 15, 2008
A large crowd of Lookout Mountain, Ga. residents turned out Thursday evening to see a presentation of the city’s proposed redesign of the town center. Mayor Tom Gifford introduced Philip Walker of The Walker Collaborative and Thomas Walsh of TSW Architects who led the audience through a slide presentation of the proposed redesign.
Mr. Walker emphasized that this is only a draft plan and can change over time. “Three days ago,” he said, “we had nothing — we’ve worked really hard to get this.” Mr. Walker thanked the citizens who came to stakeholder meetings two days ago and expressed their opinions and desires for what they wanted in the plan.
From those meetings, Mr. Walker said he came away with one quote which drove the focus of the plan. A citizen had commented, “I think this is a phenomenal opportunity for Lookout Mountain. It’s sad that we have to leave the mountain for everything.”
The draft plan for the town center seeks to make it the center of the community socially, economically, functionally and culturally, Mr. Walker said. Land use could include civic, retail, services, dining, entertainment, offices, housing and lodging.
Shown in the plan is a new city hall connected to a fire hall out near and perpendicular to Lula Lake Road. The current city hall would be torn down and a mixed use building would be put in its place. Another building would complete the L-shaped arrangement and would possibly house a grocery store.
The plan showed changes to the existing gas station also. The architects would like to see the building moved to the street edge of Lulu Lake Road and the pumps moved to the rear. A resident commented that this would be very difficult because the station was just rebuilt eight years ago and moving the storage tanks would be almost impossible because of rocks below the surface.
Mr. Walker said that the gas station redesign is just a desire and would not keep the rest of the project from moving forward.
Several landmarks in the community would remain unchanged, Mr. Walker said. These include the Methodist Church, the bank, and the Garden Walk Bed and Breakfast. However, a façade change for the bank was shown to the audience. Mr. Walker said that architectural styles should create a cohesive appearance and reflect a unique character appropriate to Lookout Mountain.
Generous public space was another element of the design, Mr. Walker said. A grassy area in front of city hall could be the site for concerts or other gatherings for the community. He also said that the plan accommodates vehicles, but is designed for pedestrians. Sidewalks would be featured throughout the redesigned area.
A secondary redesign area was the soccer field area, Mr. Walker said. Public comments from meetings earlier this week indicated a desire for a swimming pool in the community. The area around the soccer field would be the best location for a future pool, he said.
Scott Macllelan, a private property owner with property included in the redesign area, told the audience that he supports this design of the new town center and he will begin next week the demolition of the concrete slab left from the Mountain Market fire. He also said he will proceed to build a building suitable for the grocery store shown in the plan.
The audience was enthusiastic in their approval of the plan. Mayor Gifford said that the city hopes to begin initial phases of the plan within months, not years. “Sooner, if possible,” he said.
Dana Wilbourn
dbwilbourn@yahoo.com
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