Lyndhurst Year in Review | 2016

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The georgia downtown renaissance partnership LYNDHURST FOUNDATION SUPPORTED PROJECTS CHICKAMAUGA | CHATSWORTH | ROSSVILLE | MURRAY COUNTY

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The Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership

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ounded in 2013, the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership was created to foster vibrant downtowns throughout Georgia through community engagement and implementation of citizen-led visions. We recognize that downtowns are the heart and soul of community life and the engines of local economies. Our mission is to provide cities with the customized technical and design assistance necessary to help ensure economically vibrant, community-focused downtowns.

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The

components OF THE

GEORGIA DOWNTOWN

RENAISSANCE PARTNERSHIP

1. RENAISSANCE STRATEGIC VISION & PLAN (RSVP) MASTER PLANNING PROCESS 2. GEORGIA DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE FELLOWSHIP 3. GEORGIA DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE PARTNERSHIP URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 4. GEORGIA DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE PARTNERSHIP LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE STUDIO

PARTNERING WITH THE LYNDHURST FOUNDATION Since partnering with the Lyndhurst Foundation in 2015, the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership has expanded to the five counties in Georgia within the Chattanooga metropolitan area. The partnership has since engaged the communities and undertaken projects in Chickamauga, Chatsworth, Rossville, and unincorporated Murray County. The support of the Lyndhurst

Foundation has allowed the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership to expand three successful components of the program and introduce a new component, a landscape architecture studio in partnership with the University of Georgia College of Environment and Design.

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The georgia downtown renaissance partnership

year in review The

PARTNERS

• • • • • • •

GOVERNMENTS City of Chickamauga City of Rossville City of Chatsworth Murray County

Lyndhurst Foundation Thrive 2055 Georgia Municipal Association Georgia Cities Foundation Georgia Department of Community Affairs Carl Vinson Institute of Government UGA College of Environment and Design

ORGANIZATIONS Northwest Georgia Regional Commission Thriving Community Groups: Rossville & Chatsworth

uga faculty & staff Danny Bivins, Principal Planner Kaitlin Messich, Graphic Artist & Urban Designer Clark Stancil, Landscape Architect Langford Holbrook, Planner Doug Pardue, Associate Professor

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37 +

number of students involved

uga graduate assistants Chris Stebbins, Master of Environmental Planning Cecile Riker, Master of Public Administration Dan Shinkle, Master of Landscape Architecture Carter Ricks, Master of Landscape Architecture

50

community members

participated in committees & working groups 5

Renaissance Strategic Vision & Plan (RSVP) PARTNER COMMUNITY: Chickamauga, Georgia TIMELINE: February–August 2016 COMMUNITY PARTNERS: • City of Chickamauga Micheal Haney, City Manager • Chickamauga RSVP Steering Committee Betts Berry, Community Liason Elliott Davenport Micheal Haney Joyce Harrison Joni Kythas Janet Landers Kelly Looney Evitte Parrish Pam Rinehart Jim Staub Jennifer Tarvin Marcus Veazey Charles Wallace • Chickamauga Community Growth Association

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lyndhurst SUPPORTED PROJECT renaissance strategic vision & plan

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Chickamauga Steering Committee

Chickamauga

OVER

50

PROJECT BRIEF

During an extensive public engagement process, faculty and staff from the University Of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government heard from over 100 local citizens in one-on-one interviews and focus groups, conducted a community town hall meeting attended by more than 50 Chickamauga residents, and compiled the results of over 300 surveys of local residents. The many community voices heard during the public engagement process formed the foundation for the Chickamauga RSVP, a collective vision for the future of Chickamauga. During the public input process, four critical issues emerged that must be addressed by city and community leaders to ensure the future success of Chickamauga: coordination, infrastructure, “the look,” and diversifying the city’s business mix. These issues formed the basis for short-term action items and the guiding Chickamauga Work Program document included in the final report.

RESULTS As part of the Chickamauga RSVP process, Steering Committee members and local citizens came together to develop action items that begin to address long-term issues identified in the final report. Many of these action items, including installing train greeters at the Tennessee Valley Railroad, engaging in a community clean-up at the historic depot downtown, and acquiring Tree City USA certification, have already been completed. With over 40 members, the existing Chickamauga Community Growth Association has been marshalling the efforts of groups working on implementing ongoing action items.

IN ATTENDANCE AT THE TOWN HALL MEETING

100+ PEOPLE ATTENDED ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEWS & FOCUS GROUPS

300

OVER

SURVEY RESULTS

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ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEWS

LYNDHURST FUNDING The development of an RSVP document for the City of Chickamauga.

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FOCUS GROUPS

visioning

Many renderings were completed to show the community’s ideas. This rendering shows a new development to extend downtown on West 10th Street in Chickamauga.

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georgia downtown renaissance Fellowship PARTNER COMMUNITY: Chatsworth, Georgia TIMELINE: May–August 2016 COMMUNITY PARTNERS: • City of Chatsworth Tyson Haynes, Mayor • Murray County Brittany Pittman, Sole Commissioner Matthew Sanford, Project Manager • Thriving Communities Initiative Lori McDaniel, Chatsworth Thriving Communities Committee Member Steve Anglea, Chatsworth Thriving Communities Committee Member • Thrive 2055 Bridgett Massengill, Executive Director PROJECT BRIEF One of three summer fellows at the Institute of Government, MLA student Dan Shinkle worked alongside the staff and elected officials of the city of Chatsworth and Murray County along with Thrive 2055’s Thriving Community Committee to bring the ideas of local and community leaders to life. The final report produced for the city focused on several key priorities for local leaders, including site planning at Chatsworth City Park, downtown streetscaping enhancements, façade renovations, sidewalk expansions and increased connectivity, and signage upgrades.

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lyndhurst SUPPORTED PROJECT GEORGIA DOWNTOWN renaissance FELLOWSHIP

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RESULTS Local leaders used designs included in the 2016 Georgia Downtown Renaissance Fellowship final report to acquire a $20,000 grant from the Thriving Communities Initiative to help fund a new stage at Chatsworth City Park. Inspired by Dan Shinkle’s work, Chatsworth officials committed $70,000 in addition to in-kind labor to make the visions included in the report a reality. Drawing on a study of downtown connectivity in the final report, Chatsworth has begun constructing sidewalks downtown in priority areas highlighted by Mr. Shinkle. With these improvements, sidewalks now connect downtown and Market Street to Chatsworth City Park. Additionally, during the planning process Mr. Shinkle was able to save a historic and environmentally significant sycamore tree downtown and incorporate this handsome tree into future plans for the park.

Chatsworth

Chatsworth rendering: proposed new downtown streetscape

lyndhurst fellow spotlight LYNDHURST FUNDING Completion of a 12-week Renaissance Summer Fellowship resulting in a targeted plan for the City of Chatsworth.

“We worked through real design problems in an underserved but highly motivated community. Our efforts created momentum for the advancement of Chatsworth’s historic downtown and led to real change, with new sidewalks connecting to the city park and a grant awarded for a new city park stage.”

– Dan Shinkle, 2016 Lyndhurst Fellow

Dan Shinkle 2016 Lyndhurst Fellow Hometown: Cleveland, OH Background UGA College of Environment & Design, Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA), 2017 Cleveland Institute of Art, Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), 2012

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georgia downtown renaissance partnership urban design studio PARTNER COMMUNITY: Rossville, Georgia TIMELINE: January–May 2016 COMMUNITY PARTNERS: • City of Rossville Teddy Harris, Mayor • Peerless Woolen Mills Property Owners Hazel and Mitchell Bell • Rossville Thriving Communities Initiative Sally Morrow, Rossville Thriving Communities Committee Member Margaret Smith, Rossville Thriving Communities Committee Member Elizabeth Wells, Rossville Thriving Communities Committee Member Susan Wells, Rossville Thriving Communities Committee Member UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA DIRECTORS: Douglas Pardue, College of Environment & Design, Associate Professor Danny Bivins, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Senior Public Service Associate STUDENT INVOLVEMENT:

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lyndhurst SUPPORTED PROJECT URBAN DESIGN STUDIO

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Jacob Schindler, Student Coordinator Davin Dawson David Hasslinger Patrick Heslin Siyu Hou Stuart Johnson Tyler Jones Dahee Lim Jay Miller Shannon Mundy William Newton Kevin Pfeiffer Nyle Rado Jonathon Ray Carl Runge Moriah Termunde Emilie Tran

LYNDHURST FUNDING Completion of a 16-week Urban Design Studio resulting in six redevelopment concepts for the Peerless Woolen Mills property.

Rossville

STUDIO

PROJECT BRIEF

Once among the world’s largest mills of its kind and the hub of booming Rossville, Georgia, the 27-acre Peerless Woolen Mills site has sat neglected and largely unoccupied since 1961. Under the leadership of Doug Pardue at the College of Environment and Design and Danny Bivins at the Institute of Government, a group of 17 landscape architecture students teamed up to develop proposals for the former industrial site in the heart of downtown Rossville. Over the course of the semester, students collaborated with the mill owners, local government leaders, and representatives of the Thriving Communities Initiative to develop six unique proposals to guide the future of this critical site. Exploring the themes of ecotourism, industrial education, transportation, industry, and mixed-use new urbanism, students envisioned Peerless as a potential catalyst for development in metropolitan Chattanooga.

RESULTS After completing the semester-long project, students presented six final proposals to city leaders, property owners, and representatives of the Thriving Communities Initiative. City leaders and major stakeholders were very responsive to the student designs and have publicized the proposals in the hopes of attracting future development to this prominent site. Also included in the final proposal were short-term interventions to build momentum and help create a favorable environment for future downtown redevelopment.

“The city is here to facilitate and to help in any way that we can. I think an economic boom will take place in the entire south side of the Chattanooga metro area when the right combination of redevelopment happens at Peerless Mills.”

Rossville rendering: Peerless Woolen Mill depicting a technique called skeletonization, which is the process of removing parts of buildings or structures, exposing underlying components, such as columns, beams, and joists.

- Rossville Mayor Teddy Harris

“The Peerless Mills project illustrates perfectly why the Renaissance Partnership is so special…. It provided an exceptional experiential learning opportunity for our students by allowing them to work directly with community leaders and partners on an important civic site. And it provided the city of Rossville with design visions that will assist with site planning and fundraising.”

- Douglas Pardue, Associate Professor, College of Environment and Design

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georgia downtown renaissance partnership landscape ARCHITECTURE studio PARTNER COMMUNITY: Murray County, Georgia TIMELINE: August–December 2016 COMMUNITY PARTNERS: • Murray County Brittany Pittman, Sole Commissioner • Thrive 2055 Bridgett Massengill, Executive Director UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA DIRECTORS: Douglas Pardue, College of Environment & Design, Associate Professor Danny Bivins, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Senior Public Service Associate STUDENT INVOLVEMENT:

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lyndhurst SUPPORTED PROJECT landscape ARCHITECTURE STUDIO

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Roger Bledsoe Melanie Bowerman Rishika Chaudhury Chencheng He Lauren Holmer Siyu Hou Tyler Jones Jacob Schindler Xiaoying Shi Dan Shinkle Chloe Weigle Tianyu Wu Shuang Xi Chang Yang Fuyu Yang

LYNDHURST FUNDING Completion of a 12-week Landscape Architecture Studio resulting in design solutions to lessen the Appalachian Regional Port’s impact.

Murray County

PROJECT BRIEF Linking the newly deepened port of Savannah with the South’s industrial heartland, the proposed Appalachian Regional Port holds the potential to serve as a major transportation and logistical hub for the Chattanooga metropolitan area. A cooperative effort of Georgia’s state government, Murray County, CSX transportation, and the Georgia Ports Authority, the multimodal inland port could serve as a magnet for industrial growth and create a major economic hub in rural Murray County, Georgia.

Following the success of the spring Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership Urban Design Studio, Lyndhurst Foundation support has enabled the creation of a new collaborative studio at the College of Environment and Design. Again directed by Danny Bivins at the Institute of Government and Doug Pardue at the College of Environment and Design (CED), students are applying technical environmental and design expertise to plan for the impact of the new port while developing solutions to protect the site’s scenic surroundings and Murray County’s cherished natural resources. In this ongoing project, CED students are currently conducting regional and local analyses of the site and developing design standards. Teams have been formed to address the themes of environmental sensitivity, ecology, economic development, health and wellness, and more within designs for the site.

RESULTS The final results of the Landscape Architecture Studio will be determined following a presentation of student projects to local stakeholders, community leaders, and Thrive 2055 representatives. The course has been designed with three project goals to anticipate the creation of the inland port. Final results should reflect these overarching goals to be considered a success. Goals of the course include the following: • Leverage the Appalachian Regional Port to provide unique and critical community infrastructure and public space improvements in policy, programs, and physical design archetypes.

• Provide landscape design visions for the site that address community concerns about the inland port’s operations and potential pollution, and that use the port to advocate and further regional goals related to habitat, environmental quality, etc.

• Recognize potential development futures and create contingency guidelines for critical community landscapes, including highway frontage visual guidelines and landscape-level land use guidelines.

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Urban Design Studio students at Rossville City Hall

2016 Staff Salary: $62,500 Danny Bivins, Principle Planner Kaitlin Messich, Graphic Artist and Urban Designer Clark Stancil, Landscape Designer Langford Holbrook, Planner

Graduate Student Assistants: $13,500 Chris Stebbins, Master of Environmental Planning Cecile Riker, Master of Public Administration Dan Shinkle, Master of Landscape Architecture

CED Funding: $15,500 Doug Pardue, Associate Professor, College of Envirnment & Design Carter Ricks, Graduate Assistant, Master of Landscape Architecture Class/Student Expenses

Printing, Editing, & Surveys: $7,000 Travel Expenses: $6,100 15

201 North Milledge Avenue Athens, Georgia 30602 (706) 542-2736 www.cviog.uga.edu