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Smyrna Vinings
Smyrna and Vinings’ Community Newspaper
Volume 13, No. 1
JANUARY 2017
RICHARD GARLAND TAKES OVER AS SMYRNA PARKS, RECREATION DIRECTOR
Joe Yurillo, store manager, cuts the ribbon at the new Publix store at Jonquil as Smyrna mayor Max Bacon, left and Rep. Stacey Evans look on.
PUBLIX NOW OPEN AT JONQUIL
The long-awaited Publix grocery at Jonquil in Smyrna opened its doors Dec. 15 after a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony. Joe Yurillo, store manager, welcomed customers and dignitaries to the store. Among those attending were Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon, Rep. Stacey Evans, and Council members Teri Anulewicz, Charles Welch, Susan Wilkinson and Derek Norton. “We are happy to open in time for the holidays,” Yurillo said. The new manager, who started his career in Florida, has been with Publix for 30 years. "It's the first and only job I ever had,” he said. Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon said, "We’re so glad you guys finally got here. I
Betty Holden rings up Danny Brock of Smyrna as the first check out customer at the new Publix.
give a lot of credit to Jack Halpern for this development." The long delayed project went through several developers and plans before Halpern Enterprises took on the project. The Smyrna location was given the designation store number 1250 when it was first announced several years ago. Other Publix stores that are currently opening have store numbers in the 1500s. The new store will employ some 130 associates. Publix currently has 25 stores in Cobb County. The Publix at Jonquil Plaza will be a 45,000 square-foot store, with an estimated 110 associates. It will have the traditional grocery, dairy and frozen food departments along with the following offerings: • A full-service meat department where customers can have their orders custom cut and trimmed • A seafood counter with a variety of fresh fish and seafood options • Always-popular bakery offerings, including an array of mouth-watering cakes, cookies and pies and fresh baked breads • The full-service deli highlighting Boar’s Head meats and cheeses, as well as made-to-order sub sandwiches. and award-winning fried or rotisserie chicken.
Smyrna’s new Director of Parks and Recreation has a 25-year legacy of working in recreation and even worked summers as a teenager at a camp in South Carolina. Richard Garland, who turns 50 this month, previously served as executive director of the Rome- Floyd Parks and Recreation Authority. He worked his way up from gym instructor in Rome, to Park superintendent and served nine years as executive director as the city and county merged operations. "This is my passion," Garland said. "I've been working in public recreation since I was 15." At Rome-Floyd, Garland helped write the existing recreation agreement and was heavily involved in multiple SPLOSTs and annual budgets during his tenure. He saw tennis courts added, and transformed an old Marine Corps armory into the new recreation headquarters and assisted with renovations to Barron Stadium. Garland graduated from Shorter College with a major in recreation management and has a wife, Gail, and two grown children: Bennett, and Rachel. Garland spent the past two years working with a private company but decided to get back into recreation. “I've been to Smyrna several times and knew it was a great area with a lot going on,” he said. “You’ve got a great foundation here with the Market Village and a good system of parks and recreation in place.” “You’ve got a City Council that is not satisfied with the status quo,” he said. “I want it to be the best system possible.” Several new projects will be coming online shortly, he said. • New fitness equipment for the Patty Wilson trail at the Aileen Wolfe Recreation Center will be coming in by the spring. • The Reed House, a 1910 historic home on Atlanta Road, is getting $1.5 million in renovations. Demolition is underway
Richard Garland, new Smyrna Parks and Recreation Director. but the historic appearance will be retained. It will be used as a small event locale similar Brawner Hall. Plans are for it to open by late summer. What future projects does Garland have in mind? He’s going to let the community decide the future plans. “Beginning this year we will start some steps to get hold of the pulse of the community,” he said. “It's important for me to say that is not what I want to see, it's what the community wants.” He noted that Smyrna is a unique community. “I hope to help it increase the overall quality of life,” he said. He asked the public to be patient. “I want your ideas, and your suggestions are welcome. Call or e-mail if there's a problem and we will address it. My door is always open.” (The phone and email are on the smyrnacity.org site.)
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VININGS HEALTH PARK CONSTRUCTION ON SCHEDULE; OPENING IN FALL Construction is well underway on the new Vinings Health Park, which should open in September, WellStar officials told community leaders in December. WellStar broke ground in February on the new building at 4441 Atlanta Road SE. near I-285 and Cumberland Pkwy. The new three level, 162,000 squarefoot facility will primarily serve residents in the South Cobb County area, including Vinings and Smyrna as well as Northwest Fulton County. This is the third WellStar Health Park; two facilities in East Cobb and Acworth served some 300,000 patient visits last year. The construction team reported that the building is on schedule. “Our first goal was to get the parking lot in,” said Joe Young of Meadows and Ohly. The steel structure is going up and topping out was expected in early December. "The building’s ‘skin’ is now going up and it will look essentially completed from outside over the next month. The rear parking deck is nearly finished.” "We are on schedule and will be meet-
ing our construction dates," Young said. Next year the Health Park will add an outpatient surgery center with three operating rooms, three procedure rooms, and 23 pre- and post-op Rooms. Construction will start June with opening in early 2018. Services offered at Vinings Health Park include: an imaging center, urgent care center, sleep center, outpatient surgery center, cardiac diagnostics, lab outreach and free admission testing teaching, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, physical therapy and sports medicine, a retail pharmacy, community education and wellness center, and a Parkside bistro. Michael Johnson, administer administrate tour of the East Cobb Health Park and the new Vinings center will bring in some 150 to 175 new jobs. "It will attract medical professionals and new businesses," he said. “We try to be a good partner. Our goal is to be responsible and take care of concerns from the community.” The facility will be staffed with a multi-specialty mix of physicians to include a strong foundation of primary care physi-
Michal Johnson, East Cobb and Vinings Helath Parks administrator, tells of progress at the new facility. cians – family physicians, internal medicine, pediatrics and OB/GYN, and specialists, such as cardiologists, pulmonologists, ENT, gastroenterologists, surgeons, allergy/ asthma, endocrinology and others based on community needs.