Fall Bainbridge Living Magazine 2023

FALL 2023

Bainbridge L i v i n g

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Fall 2023

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

CHASON PARK The centerpiece to the city’s riverfront plans.

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ifelong residents of Bainbridge have seen how the city has grown in recent years. Even those that have only moved here within the last few years can notice the difference, the growth has been so fast and far-reaching. New businesses big and small are constantly moving in, and the city government has multiple building and expansion projects in the works, such as the new Recreation Authority facility still under construction.

However, the crown jewel of the city’s efforts, the main focal point for their downtown projects in particular, has been the expansion of Chason Park. Ac-

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cording to Bainbridge Assistant City Manager Roy Oliver, it was several years ago that the park was chosen to act as this lynchpin. “Overall, we have a riverfront master plan, that involved a lot of things up and down the river, from basically the Cheney Griffin area, all the way to the boat basin, involving a river walk,” he explained. He further elaborated on this, “I guess in 2017, 2018, we had had a lot of city council retreats with the mayor, city council and city staff. We started talking about our connectivity project, and we had the street-scapes project.” This street-scapes project looked at refurbishing and renewing the downtown

Fall 2023 sidewalks and lamp posts.

It was during the discussions of these projects that the city realized the opportunity to add a sidewalk connection that connected downtown Bainbridge to a newly refurbished Chason Park, which would in turn connect to the rest of the River Walk. The city began researching and earnestly pursuing this project in 2018, ultimately choosing the Atlanta-based landscap-

er and architecture firm TSW for the project. “We had looked at some of their park projects and their RFPs (riverfront projects), and we thought that they would be a good fit to help the city council, and have a vision for what we were looking for.”

Of course, the project is not just about connectivity; it is also a point of economic development and impact. “You’ve got a $28 million hotel coming, you’ve

Then now

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

CHASON

OCTOBER

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Fall 2023

N PARK

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Dr. Gordon Chason Miller spoke on behalf of the Chason family at the park’s grand opening. got the apartments that have been built there, you’ve got a restaurant that’s moved in, you’ve got another restaurant that’s just a block away,” Oliver said.

Now with a vision for this project and a firm to actually aid in the work, the Chason Park project was clear to move ahead in three stages. Stage one began in 2019, with stage two beginning in late 2020, this being the addition of the large staircase that will connect the park to the remainder of the river walk.

Stage three was by far the most extensive, and took just over a year to complete, that being the expansion of the park itself. While TSW aided with the planning, Cook Brothers, Inc. from Tallahassee was hired as the general contractor for the project.

However, with a price tag of just over $8 million, this stage was not going to be just a simple addition or renovation of the park. The project did not stop with the new slides and playground, nor with the splash pad. The park itself serves as both an educational tool and a celebration of Bainbridge and the Flint River.

There are multiple informational signs and designs woven all over into the architecture of the park that tout the local history and ecosystem. Footprints of local species, ranging from deer to alligators, are imprinted along the walkway, while designs of snakes, frogs, and other local critters are engraved into the wood beams of the playground. Along the north edge of the park, a small area has a compass designed into the sidewalk, pointing visitors in the direction of famous historic landmarks. Even more, part of the park’s pathway is designed in the shape the Flint River takes as it flows through the city.

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“It’s called the River Story,” Oliver said. The Jones Center at Ichauway contributed to this, as did local historian Dale Cox. According to Cox, the city was “very interested in preserving the history of the original Chason Park.” While Cox assisted with the information for the new signs, he also made sure the park’s construction did not risk damaging the archeological remnants of Fort Hughes buried beneath the surface.

Remnants of the fort found so far include remains of the log wall, musket balls, and a fire pit area.

“I commend the city for their job interpreting the history and preserving the sites,” Cox said. “It’s rare to find a city willing to preserve its history while making a step forward to the future.”

After such a long road to completion and so much work being put in, the park’s grand opening was a large affair, with crowds gathering for the ribbon cutting on Friday, October 6. Kids took to the splash pad and playground, while their parents and the rest of the adults enjoyed the food trucks present, as well as the evening concert. Most of the city government was present for the event, with Mayor Edward Reynolds delivering the welcome address. “This beautifully landscaped park, innovative play area, and attention to detail has been an aspect of the project that we are so proud of,” he stated. The mayor was passionate in his remarks, describing the park expansion as “a labor of love for us all at the city,” and “a culmination of many years of vision and planning”.

“I have to express my appreciation to the city council, the city staff, to all the city departments who worked diligently on this park,” Reynolds said. He

Fall 2023

Animals Along The Flint

One of the interesting features that can be seen along the riverwalk the path includes pavers with sandblasted interpretive graphics representing animal footprints that can be found along the banks of the Flint.

The rIVER STORY

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

also thanked the Downtown Development Authority, the Department of Community Affairs, and the Fogg Charitable Trust Foundation for their contributions, along with the architects and construction crews for their work.

The ceremony was truly a community affair, as after city councilman Don Whaley gave the ceremony’s invocation, the Bainbridge High School band performed the national anthem.

After this, Dr. Gordon Chason Miller, great nephew of Dr. J.D. Chason, spoke as a representative of the Chason family. “My sister and I wish to recognize and appreciate the elegant, recent enhancement of Mayor Edward Reynold’s administration,” Dr. Miller said. He spoke on the Chason family’s history with the city, as well as their history with the land where Chason Park currently resides; one fact he mentioned was that the Lofts at Chason Park are currently built on the old site of the Riverside Hospital, originally built by Dr. Miller’s grandfather, Dr. Gordon Chason.

Following his speech, Mayor Reynolds, in turn, thanked Dr. Miller for his family’s donation of the park’s land to the city, before officially cutting the ribbon.

Oliver commented that the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. “The biggest thing you hear is they can’t believe we’ve got something like this in Bainbridge,” he said. Chason Park does indeed see much more use now than before, whether it’s foot traffic passing through, children enjoying the playground and splash pad, or even people just enjoying their lunch break. While there are still projects on the riverfront that remain unfinished, the Chason Park is one of the biggest. If the public reaction is anything to go by, it appears to have been a worthwhile investment.

"It's definitely been a labor of love for us all at the city."

-Mayor Edward Reynolds

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The warehouse

Fall 2023

at calhoun Downtown Bainbridge expands

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s a senior in college, Bainbridge native Brent Warr wrote a thesis on adaptive reuse projects and their effects on the communities they are in. Now, he’s putting his thesis into practice.

Warr is renovating the abandoned warehouse on the corner of Calhoun and Water St. and turning it into a multi-use building. “The Warehouse on Calhoun” will provide four business and six living spaces in downtown Bainbridge.

“The fact that I bought an adaptive reuse property and am basically doing what I did my thesis on five years ago,” Warr said, “It’s really exciting.”

The business spaces in the Warehouse are on the front side of the building facing Calhoun St. Three spaces will be occupied by businesses, and one will be a restaurant space. Warr said the three business spaces are pre-leased, and he’s working on getting a restaurant into the fourth space.

The living spaces will consist of apartments ranging from one bed, one bath, to three bed, two bath spaces.

Warr said he wanted to keep as much of the existing building intact as possible and is incorporating beams and structural pieces into the design of the apartments.

“My background is in interior design and architecture,” Warr said. “I’m using all of that and keeping as much of the original stuff that we can.”

Warr’s idea for “The Warehouse on Calhoun” started as a plan to open an art studio. Warr specializes in sculptural art; he designs and makes collectible furniture and lighting.

Living in Atlanta then, Warr said his studio space was too small for some of the pieces he was making and wanted to upgrade. He said he couldn’t afford to upgrade in Atlanta, so he started looking elsewhere.

“I was home for my sister’s high school graduation,” Warr said. “We were driving around and I was like, ‘What is this building?’”

Before Warr started construction, you may not have noticed the warehouse at all. The building was painted

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

a shade of green that can trick the eye into not detecting it.

Coined “Go Away Green,” the grayish-green hue blended the building with the environment, causing the brain to disregard it.

Warr said he had never noticed it until he was looking for buildings to rent. Now, he owns it.

“It took 10 minutes of research to find out that the city owned it,” Warr said. “I talked it over for a few months, and we’re here now,... My parents thought I was crazy.”

Amanda Glover, the Downtown Development Authority Director, said Warr contacted her inquiring about the building. They made the deal, had a pre-development meeting, and Warr has been working on it since.

“He saw a true vision for that space,” Glover said.

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“He’s making it happen.”

The City owned the warehouse for more than a year before Warr bought it. The building, constructed in the early 20th century, had received wear and tear over the years and, more significantly, physical damage from Hurricane Michael in 2018.

“The whole roof had to be completely redone,” Warr said. “It took about a month for the roof. They had to rip the whole thing off,... it was all caving in.”

Warr said he’s aiming to have the business spaces ready for companies to move in this winter and the apartments to be finished in early 2024.

“To come back home and give this to the community and be a part of Bainbridge’s growth is really exciting,” Warr said. “I’m 26, and I want to encourage other people that are in our generation to come back to a small town that has changed so much in 10 years.”

Fall 2023

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

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Fall 2023

lofts at CHASON PARK High-end living with a view

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n the space that now accommodates the expanded Chason Park, for years there was nothing there, just an empty lot, with an unused Bainbridge Recreation Authority facility neighboring it. When the city began to look into expanding the park, paired with that was a proposal to refurbish and renovate some of the housing and residences in the surrounding area. “They wanted someone to develop some of these areas that needed rehabbing,” Darrell Cox, Bainbridge resident and co-owner of Rivertown Development explained.

Unfortunately, this initial plan wasn’t meant to be.

“We went to five different property owners in this L-shaped property,” Cox said, “ and all but one turned us down, so that was a no-go.” According to Cox, the owners weren’t interested in selling whatsoever, with the talks not even progressing to a potential price discussion. With the city’s initial plan having reached a dead end, it was then that the idea for the Lofts at Chason Park would be born.

Initially, the local government did not want new apartments or residences built. “They did not want anything here at all,” Cox stated. However, now finding itself at an impasse with the property owners, the

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

city had to consider other possibilities if there was to be any housing development at Chason Park. This was when Cox first broached the idea of putting apartments in place of the rec facility.

“It wasn’t being used for anything, so I went up and asked Chris, and he said no, he didn’t think the city was interested in that,” Cox said.

But, after a month with no headway being made, the city finally relented, albeit with some conditions.

Namely, the apartments would have to be built in conjunction with the park. “By that I mean we actually enlisted the same architectural firm,” he explained, “so that our colors, our materials would go hand in hand with what they were doing there, so that the two come off looking like it was the same project, even though we had nothing to do with them.”

Cox would partner with Doug Young, owner of PDC Construction, to form Rivertown Development for this undertaking. “I don’t have any experience of any kind in a building project,” Cox recounted, “but I knew I wanted to do this project.” He and Young had become friends, and with Young’s prior experience with construction, the partnership seemed like a natural fit.

However, now with the problem of property settled

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and demolition of the abandoned facility underway, more problems, beyond the control of Cox, Young, or the city began to rear their heads. Construction began in early 2022, but with recent economic uncertainty and supply chain issues, Rivertown Development’s first project was immediately faced with logistical nightmares.

“It was a disaster,” Cox said. “From the time we started until probably six months into the project, that’s when we had supply issues… we probably saw an increase of 30% to 40% on some of the construction materials. We were immediately upside down before we even started.” Despite the issues facing the construction, the project only went over schedule by about two months. Cox described the city as “fantastic to work with.” “We always consider ourselves partners with the city, because we try to do anything we can to make downtown better, and they have been… really progressive and positive to work with.”

In total, the complex has 21 apartments, each of which boasts a kitchen furnished with basic appliances (refrigerator, stove, microwave, sink, and dishwasher); appliances such as washing machines and dryers are not included. Potential tenants have single or two-bedroom apartments to choose from. City

Fall 2023 utilities, as well as internet via the city’s fiber network, are also included with the rent. The rent itself varies; a one-bedroom apartment is $1,600 a month, while a two-bedroom apartment can range from $2,300 to $2,600 per month.

As of the writing of this article, eight of the apartments have been claimed, with a big draw for older demographics. “The main draw, of course, is the view,” Cox said, “and of course, a lot of these are elderly, so their grandkids are getting a kick out of having that for a front yard”, “that” being a reference to the playground at the expanded Chason Park.

The complex also features a communal terrace atop the roof, as well as a courtyard with a fire pit and two

gas grills. Cox also said a small bar area was under consideration for being added onto the terrace.

When asked about whether he thought the project was worth the trouble, Cox responded, “He (Doug) and I are both heavily invested, not just from a financial standpoint, but we’re both on the DDA, we’re both on the Chamber board.” He elaborated, “We both love Bainbridge, and I always say, 10, 15 years from now, my kids can come by and say, ‘Hey my dad had something to do with that building.’ He thinks the same thing, so we get that out of it regardless.” As Mayor Reynolds described the Chason Park expansion as a “labor of love”, perhaps the Lofts at Chason could be described as a “labor of legacy”.

"I always say, 10, 15 years from now, my kids can come by and say, 'Hey, my dad had something to do with that building.'"

-Darrell Cox

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

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Fall 2023

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susie and sam's

Fall 2023

Fine dining in Bainbridge

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ith more than 30 years in the restaurant and entertainment industry, Susan and Sam Higdon know a thing or two about running a food service business. The couple are bringing their passion and expertise of dining to Bainbridge with their soon-to-open steakhouse, Susie and Sam’s.

Originally from Dothan, Susan first saw Bainbridge in 1999. She was in town helping a friend, Mike Inlow, choreograph a show at the Bainbridge Little Theatre.

She said he had first mentioned the idea of opening a restaurant in Bainbridge to her then.

It took more than 20 years of reminding, but Susan started seriously considering it after the closing of a restaurant her mother, Marie Livingston, owned.

“For years and years, [Inlow] would say, ‘Why don’t y’all open up a restaurant in Bainbridge,’” Susan said.

“At the time, my mom had one. That was too much.

We couldn’t have two restaurants. After her restaurant closed and we were looking to get back into it, we knew that the downtown was being redeveloped, and there were a lot of really cute buildings.”

The Higdons came to Bainbridge in the winter of 2022 to survey downtown and the surrounding area for a building for the restaurant. Amanda Glover, the Downtown Development Authority Director, took them around the city to tour potential locations, and they didn’t have to go far to find the restaurant’s future home.

Susie and Sam’s Steakhouse will be located in the

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old library building at 200 W. Broughton St. “The very first building that we came and looked at was [the library],” Susan said. “When I walked in, I was happy. Sometimes, you find a building that just has character all on its own. You don’t have to create it.”

The Higdons bought and are renovating the building to fit the restaurant’s needs. The two-story building will have a dining room, private room, bar/lounge, and dessert corner upstairs, and the kitchen on the lower level.

Sam said the downstairs kitchen was initially a point of contention when deciding what building to pick.

The biggest issue with having a kitchen downstairs is that employees will have to travel a flight of stairs to go to and from the dining room.

“We thought, ‘Eh, you can’t put a kitchen downstairs,’” Sam said. “You’ve got to go up and down the stairs; you can’t do that. Do we have room up here?

We were plotting it out, ‘What if we do this? What if we do that?..’ We came up here one day, and [Living-

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ston] was with us, and she was like, ‘Y’all just need to put it downstairs.’”

The advice from Livingston was all the Higdons needed to hear to pull the trigger on the downstairs kitchen. Livingston owned and operated her own restaurant, “Marie Livingston’s Steakhouse,” for nearly 30 years in Tallahassee until it closed in 2020.

The upscale steakhouse started in 1992 and grew to open three locations — including one that had multiple flights of stairs. Susan said that Livingston has helped advise them through the process of opening Susie and Sam’s.

“We are excited that she is a part of it,” Susan said.

“She’s successful, she knows what she’s doing, and she loves the business.”

The Higdons will be carrying on what Marie Livingston’s Steakhouse did right. Sam spent years in the Marie Livingston kitchen trimming steaks and preparing cuts of meat with an acute level of detail. The butchering process and technique is something he will train the Susie and Sam’s kitchen staff to do.

Fall 2023

A preview of how the booths at Susie and Sam’s will look.

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

“They’ll need to really prove themselves to me before I hand that knife over,” Sam said. “Because that’s going to be our signature.”

Livingston’s restaurant had freshly baked bread and homemade desserts by Livingston herself, and she will get to continue her dessert-making at Susie and Sam’s. In their planning, The Higdons made space for Livingston to have a dessert section upstairs near the dining room.

Key lime and coconut cream pies, white chocolate custard, and a chocolate chip cookie cake are some of Livingston’s signature desserts. She said her desserts were in high demand at her restaurant, and they were demanded by high-level people.

“The FSU football players and coaches came for the recruit dinners at the restaurant,” Livingston said.

“They always had to have that chocolate chip cookie cake.”

Susie and Sam’s will use the same recipe for a “secret” stake sauce that Livingston used at her restaurant. And, on top of everything else, the Higdons said they want to carry on a level of care for the dining experience that expands past the food on the plate.

“I want it to feel like something, not just dinner,” Su-

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san said. “It’s like when you put on a song you love, or just doing something you love,... I want them to have such a good time they don’t want to leave.”

Susan said they would only be where they are in this process with the help she and Sam received from people in Bainbridge. She said Scott Ewing and Kyle Staples of First Port City Bank have been vital to making her and Sam’s dream of opening their own restaurant come true. She also wants to thank Glover from the Downtown Development Authority.

Susan said she wants to thank Mike Conder and Shaun Earnest of Dehildren Construction for what they have done to help make Susie and Sam’s what it is. She also wanted to shout out June Faircloth from Epic Design, Jeff Jeter from In the Garden, and Tracy Bell who installed murals in the dining roomFinally, Susan said the City of Bainbridge was “fabulous” to work with and wanted to thank Chris Hobby, Steve O’Neil, Keith Pollock and Gabe Menendez.

The project has been ongoing for almost a year, and Susan said they are nearing completion. As for when the restaurant will open, she said, “Stay tuned, coming soon!”

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Bainbridge L i v i n g

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BLUE HAZEL

Fall 2023

Local expansion draws entrepreneurship to town

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arlier this year, Anovion Technologies broke ground on their new Bainbridge facility. This is hardly the first major company to set down roots in Bainbridge, with A-1, Taurus and Danimer having done so years beforehand. Indeed, these companies have contributed to the economic growth and prosperity Bainbridge and Decatur County have experienced lately.

However, it’s not just big national and international companies that have recognized Bainbridge’s recent growth. Many smaller businesses have sprung up around town over the past several years, from shops and boutiques to restaurants. The most recent of these

is an extension from Blakely, that being Blue Hazel.

Owned by Paige Davis, Blue Hazel is a shop that specializes in home decor and gifts. Davis opened the store in 2015, and offers a variety of items and services, including china, artwork, rugs, bath products and accent furniture (to name just a few), as well as both a bridal and baby registry. They even offer a variety of home redecorating options, ranging from simply rearranging what’s already present, to ordering all new furnishings for a room. During the holiday season, Blue Hazel will also decorate Christmas trees and even entire rooms.

When asked what prompted her to expand her busi-

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ness to Bainbridge, Davis said, “Honestly, from South Apparel. They came from Blakely to Bainbridge.” This initially drew Davis’s attention to Bainbridge, but it wasn’t until she began attending weekend brunch with her daughter in downtown Bainbridge that she saw how much Bainbridge has grown. “I didn’t realize the growth Bainbridge has made over the last couple of years, and when this opportunity arose for me, I just couldn’t resist it,” she explained. “I love Blakely, I grew up in Blakely, but I don’t see that same growth in Blakely, so I just wanted to open a couple more doors and have more options.”

As of the writing of this article, Davis was still in

the process of moving into her new storefront, located at 110 North Broad Street, where Mills Apparel used to be. She intends to offer some of the same products at the Blakely location, but specified that she has also entered arrangements with new vendors for the Bainbridge location. “I want to really focus down here on home decor, artwork, florals, things like that, because there’s not many here in Bainbridge,” she said. “The gift part I think I’m gonna leave in Blakely, because there’s so many gifty stores here.” On this point, she clarified that a lot of the stores carry the same lines of products, adding, “I don’t want to duplicate, I want to be different and bring something different to the ta-

"When this opportunity arose for me, i just couldn't resist it."

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-PAIGE DAVIS

Fall 2023 ble.” She described it as “positive competitive retail”: “I think that, in order to thrive, you need that, you need to not carry the same things, but have variety.”

Having been a small business owner for the better part of eight years, Davis has seen her fair share of hardships in that time. “It has been very challenging,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, with Covid and the economy.” Despite not seeing the growth in Blakely as in Bainbridge, she reciprocates the loyalty she received from the community. “Blakely has been very, very good to me, that’s why I’m not wanting to close that store… I love my location, I love that whole space, and I’m not ready to let that go yet.”

Despite the Bainbridge location having yet to open, Davis said she has already gotten positive feedback on the decision to move. With a clientele that extends across southwest Georgia, many commented on her moving closer; “I have a lot of people that are from Valdosta, Tallahassee, over here close to Bainbridge and the surrounding area… when I told them I was moving over here they were so excited!”

While the likes of Taurus and Anovion suck all the air out of a room and draw all the attention, it’s the addition of small shops like Blue Hazel that emphasize Bainbridge’s growth in day-to-day life.

A snapshot of Blue Hazel in Blakely.

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