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City mulls ‘Riverfront District’

• Albany officials will soon unveil a proposal to establish a portion of downtown as a special kind of entertainment- related district.

Carlton Fletcher

ALBANY — When downtown restaurant owner Bo Henry spoke before Albany Tomorrow Inc.’s board of directors Wednesday, he went seeking influential board members’ support of events being planned by businesses in the inner city district.

What Henry got was so much more.

Assistant City Manager Jim Taylor told Henry and board members that a proposal to create a “Riverfront District” would be ready for the Albany City Commission’s and the community’s consideration in a matter of weeks. That proposal takes the “entertainment district” concept pitched by downtown stakeholders to a level beyond what most of them had ever dreamed.

“In response to requests from downtown business owners, we started looking into the possibility of creating what they were calling an ‘entertainment district’,” Taylor said Thursday. “A group from the DCA (Department of Community Affairs) came down for a briefing about the ‘New Urban Main Street’ program, and one of the things they emphasized was not creating an entertainment district.”

Forewarned and armed with DCA information, Taylor and other staffers in the city manager’s office started looking for answers to why such a suggestion was made. The Albany officials got an earful.

“We started with Columbus,” Taylor said of the quest. “I talked with the head of their Business Improvement District — which is Columbus’ ATI — and he said the one thing they would have done differently in redeveloping their downtown is not put all of the clubs that located downtown in one small area. The noise complaints they’ve gotten have evidently turned into a real mess.

“Of course, everyone talks about Athens’ entertainment district, so I talked with officials there hoping to find an ordinance that we could pattern ours around. They told me that they don’t have an entertainment district, that their downtown just happened with no real plan.”

Taylor said Athens officials are constantly fielding complaints from downtown residents and business owners.

“They said people in loft apartments call them all the time to complain about noise,” he said. “They’re also starting to hear from developers who want to build condos downtown. They said they have to tell these folks that they knew what downtown was like before they moved there.”

Taylor called officials in Macon, Savannah, Valdosta and other cities that had gone through redevelopment, and the responses were much the same ... no entertainment districts.

“So we started looking at places like Greenville, S.C., which has experienced an incredible turnaround,” Taylor said. “What they did is develop around their best attribute: the (Reedy) river. And, believe me, what they have is a trickle of water compared to what we have.”

After loading himself down with facts, figures and as much information as he could find about what was working in urban redevelopment, Taylor and City Manager Alfred Lott contacted HDR Consulting Company and asked the company to come up with a comprehensive plan that would best serve the interests of citizens in Albany and Dougherty County.

“We gave HDR a few specific guidelines,” Taylor said. “We wanted to make sure they included the (Flint) river in the plan, that the east side of the river got consideration and that the district be wide enough to accommodate future growth.

“Rather than look at what the downtown stakeholders had suggested, which was just a couple of blocks, we had to consider things like noise issues, proximity to churches and proximity to schools — there’s no way we’re ever going to abandon our churches and schools. Rather than tie merchants’ hands, we wanted a proposal that gave options.”

So consultants are working on a proposal to create a Riverfront District that has its special zoning ordinances, one of which is the elimination of a city law prohibiting establishments that primarily sell alcohol to locate within 1,000 feet of other such establishments. Taylor suggested that the district’s boundaries be established as Radium Springs Road to the east, Jefferson Street to the west, Whitney Avenue to the south and Residence Avenue to the north.

That proposal has Henry, city officials and others with downtown business interests excited.

“If that goes through, great,” Henry, whose second dining establishment — The Catch, a seafood restaurant and market at 2332 Whispering Pines is opening soon — said Thursday afternoon. “I had heard talk of something like this, but I had no idea it was close to being considered.

“My reason for asking to speak to ATI was to educate them a little bit about what was going on downtown and try to get their support. It certainly turned out to be a good meeting.”

Taylor said he and Lott had not discussed particulars of the Riverfront proposal because they were looking to firm up plans before making an announcement. Albany Mayor Willie Adams said that was a wise decision.

“There’s no question this will be great for downtown,” Adams said. “It’s something that needs to be done, but it doesn’t need to be done as a knee-jerk reaction. There are many things to consider before making such a move.

“One concern I have is making sure we don’t get too far out in front on this before our downtown manager is on board. But this is something that should be good for downtown development.”

Attorney Phil Cannon, who is chairman of the Downtown Albany Merchants Association Inc., said Friday he had drafted an ordinance calling for the development of an entertainment district more than a year ago but had gotten nowhere with it. He said the plan being pushed by city officials is one that could make downtown more of a destination.

“I think all of the merchants downtown will tell you that (the Riverfront proposal) is a great idea,” Cannon said. “When you look at what draws people downtown, entertainment-type events are the No. 1 attraction. That’s how you get afternoon, evening and weekend traffic in the district.

“This proposal would be the first step in giving downtown its own identity. It would be something new, something that would lead people to head downtown to hang out rather than the mall area.”

Sam Shugart, whose downtown properties include the Shackleford Shopping Center east of the Flint, called the Riverfront proposal a “step in the right direction.”

“That’s a broad quadrant they’re talking about,” he said. “And the value of property in that quadrant is going to go up if they make this move. It looks as if they’re really doing their homework on this; you look at the borders of the district, and there aren’t a lot of residential areas there. That should cut down on potential (noise) complaints.

“I think all downtown property owners have to look at this as a positive step.”

Taylor said downtown redevelopment players like the city, county, the Albany- Dougherty Inner City Authority and ATI must be on board for the Riverfront District to work. Interim ATI President/ CEO Greg McCormack said he had been told that such a district was part of the organization’s original Downtown Master Plan, but that he had not been able to confirm that through recent research.

But McCormack said the district is vital to continued inner-city development.

“We’re glad to find out this is cooking; it should have been cooking a long time ago,” he said. “I was under the impression the city commission had rejected this idea a while back, so I’m glad to hear it is close to being brought before the city and the community.

“After Wednesday’s (ATI) board meeting, we’ve certainly gone on record in support of the plan. I’m anxious to know when the proposal will be presented; I want to be there to express my support.”

Despite the overwhelming support of downtown stakeholders, Taylor says he expects opposition no matter how well-planned the proposal may be.

“We have made every effort to benefit from the experiences of cities like Athens, Columbus and others,” he said. “I think once the city commission reviews the proposal and gets input from the community, they will do what is in the best interest of the city.

“But I do expect that for every person who loves this proposal, there will be one that hates it. That’s the reality of this kind of project.”

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Grads encouraged during ceremonies

• Speakers encouraged and inspired their classmates as the students of the Dougherty County School System graduated Saturday.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — More than 400 students from Albany high schools walked across the platform at the Civic Center Saturday with diplomas in hand.

Students from Monroe Comprehensive High School, Westover Comprehensive High School, Dougherty County Comprehensive High School and Albany High School completed their secondary education with the pomp and circumstance afforded graduating seniors.

At Monroe’s ceremony, student speaker Antwan Cuffie urged the graduating class to reflect on the Class of 2007’s theme — the sky’s the limit — and make the right choices to ensure a successful future.

“It’s now that we stand on the edge of our own accomplishments,” Cuffie said. “For some, this may be their only achievement, but for others, the sky is truly the limit.”

The captain of Monroe’s tennis team, Cuffie has already accepted a spot at Fort Valley State University.

At Dougherty High’s graduation ceremony, an inspirational tale of overcoming obstacles and untempered dreaming was the highlight of the speech of class Valedictorian Victoria Whitlow.

The school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes president told her fellow classmates how an umbilical chord was wrapped around her throat at birth nearly killing her and how she overcame a socially debilitating shyness that often prevented her from even speaking to others to become a student who is now poised to continue her educations at Georgia State with dreams of eradicating HIV and Sickle Cell Disease.

“In this day and time we must aspire to be the best of the best,” Whitlow said. “We must develop a hunger to better our own lives and circumstances.”

Whitlow heralded the value of self-discipline and, like her fellow speaker from Monroe, encouraged her classmates to go out into the world seeking success.

“Success will not lower its standards for us,” Whitlow said. “We must raise our own standards to achieve that success.”

In his final remarks, Cuffie issued a warning to those graduating Saturday.

“As we leave here with our accomplishments we must also know that we are now responsible for our own choices in life,” Cuffie said.

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Police: Rape attempt foiled

• Reports show that an Albany man threw a woman through a window when trying to rape her Saturday.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — The quick work of a couple of neighbors may have prevented an Albany man from raping a woman on Florence Drive early Saturday morning, police documents show.

Lugene Thomas, 51, of Albany, has been charged with aggravated assault after police say he attacked a woman and tried to rape her on the 500 block of Florence Drive.

According to the reports, police were dispatched out to 505 Florence Drive just before 3 a.m. in response to a woman yelling for help. A neighbor, Raymond Simonton, called police after he heard glass break and the woman yelling for help.

When police arrived, they said they found Thomas on top of the female victim with his pants down around his ankles. One hand was wrapped around her throat and the other was trying to pull her jeans down.

Officer Jonathon Lee pulled his service weapon and ordered Thomas to stand and put his hands in the air while officers Max Parrish and William Zigan tried to find a way into the apartment.

While Lee had Thomas at gunpoint, the report says that the victim managed to get up and unlock the door and let the other two officers in.

The report says that the victim told police that Thomas had thrown her through the window, shattering it and cutting her arm in multiple places.

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Fire department restoring history

• Leaders of the Albany Fire department need the public’s help in documenting their past.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Standing with their early fire engine, the men of the Thronateeska volunteer fire brigade stare out with their eyes fixed, their equipment ready and their resolve unshakeable. These were the men of the ALBANY Fire Department circa 1881; these were some the city’s first and finest firefighters.

And now, more than 120 years after those firefighters posed for a photo, the leadership of the Albany Fire Department is trying to recover the lost history of their department and fill in those crucial gaps between periods in one of the state’s oldest departments.

“It’s important for us to pay tribute to the men who came before us,” AFD Fire Chief James Carswell said. “The best way for us to do that is to collect as much information as we can, and then create a means of storing it for everyone to enjoy.”

Carswell and Asst. Chief David Eddins are on a mission to collect as much history about the AFD as they can to put into a what they call a high school annual-type book that will begin a tradition of documenting the life of firefighters here.

So far, the Eddins has been able to amass a pretty decent biography of the department through photos, news clippings and personal letters provided by family members of firefighters.

He hopes that by soliciting the public’s help, someone that may have had a relative affiliated with the department would come forward and share their documented stories and photos so that they can be recorded.

“We’re looking for the type of stuff that people may have up in an attic and may have just forgotten about,” Eddins said. “Letters, photographs, news clippings, anything that could help us pay tribute to these fighters would be great.”

Eddins said that early fire services in Albany were left largely up to community members until the volunteer system was developed in the late 1800’s. Up until then, Eddins said that if there was a fire, the neighbors would come together to fight it with the old bucket brigades until it was out.

Around 1881, the Albany Fire Department began to take shape with four volunteer companies — Thronateeska, Defiance and Eagle. The largest of those companies, Eagle, was an all-black company that also consisted of a separate unit called the Lightning Hook and Ladder.

After the turn of the 20th century, firefighters finally began to get paid and the volunteers system, as it had been known earlier, faded away.

Today, fire services use both paid and volunteer firefighters to fight fire in both urban and rural areas.

Despite a history that has been relatively well documented, Eddins said that there were plenty of gaps in the organization’s history that he was hoping someone could fill.

If anyone has information, photos or letters, Eddins said that the department would be happy to take them, scan them into their computers and give right back so that there would be less of chance for damaging any historic items.

Those with any information are urged to call the Albany Fire Department at 229-431-3262.

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Bridge House past brought to light

• Among the items found at a downtown excavation site are wooden construction pegs from the 19th century and horseshoes.

Joshua Brown

ALBANY — When the overhaul on the old Bridge House in downtown Albany began, architect David Maschke hoped workers would find some interesting artifacts. They did.

Since excavation began on the project in early April, workers at the site found several wooden construction pegs from the 19th century and horseshoes, Maschke said.

Because of his interest in architecture, Maschke particularly enjoyed studying the pegs, which were used during the 1850s to hold together wooden support beams in the building.

“We anticipated finding some sort of artifacts in the earth because years ago wagons would pass through there, and that (ground) had been filled in over the years,” he said. “Sure enough, in the top three or four feet, when they excavated, they came across mule shoes and things like that — a 1923 license plate off a car. Some of it’s in pretty nice shape.”

Among the items that contractors found in the old Bridge House were gears and cogs, wooden pegs called “mortise pins,” some extremely deteriorated horse shoes and a license plate.

When Albany Tomorrow Inc. wrote the contract with the construction company excavating the site, it included a clause that the contractors would hand over any artifacts they found, Maschke said.

While none of the items are particularly valuable, Maschke said he enjoys the history of the items.

“It’s just kind of cool,” he said. “That’s why we required in the specs that any artifacts they find they have to turn over to us. The contractor kind of laughed at us. He said he hadn’t actually seen anything like that before, but I suspected they might find something.”

Field Superintendent Walter Gee said that he expects the construction aspect of the remodeling to be finished by October. The building is being renovated into a visitors and convention bureau, and will house several exhibits inside it, possibly including several of the artifacts found under the building.

“We’re doing all right,” Gee said. “We’ve made good progress and we’ll continue to make good progress.”

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Students are ready for summer fun

• Dougherty County School System’s 2006-07 academic year ends.

Barbara Rivera Holmes

ALBANY — Ah, the end of the school year. For some it’s a break from note taking and early classes, and for others it’s the close of one life stage and the start of another.

Whether leaving for good or coming back, emotions and conversations between students, faculty and staff always fall into one of two categories, or a mix of them.

Category one — “It’s finally summer" — as shared by some Dougherty County School System students Friday afternoon:

• “I am going to the beach.”
• “You going to that party today?”
• “I’ll come back for summer school. See you soon!”
• “Friend, I’ll miss you.” (This, apparently, was said not in a tone of sadness, but rather as a joke).

Category two — “I can’t believe the year is over.”

• “Oh, what good grades you got. Have a good summer.” (This was said by an educator to a student. The teacher held a smile though her eyes were filled with tears).
• “You’re not going to middle school.” (Well, actually, the student is going to sixth grade. This was said by an administrator whose love for her students is always evident.)

After students leave and all the goodbyes are said, hugs given, pictures taken and phone numbers exchanged, school system employees return to school and tie up loose ends.

One of the biggest accomplishments during the academic year that ended Friday, said Dianne Daniels, was “the implementation of the seventh period class for remediation and credit recovery.”

The seventh period, said Daniels, executive director of curriculum and instruction for Dougherty schools, “gave our students the opportunity for extended learning time in the classes where they were experiencing the greatest difficulty.”

Another achievement was training teachers in differentiated instruction.

This, Daniels said, gives teachers tools so that they can “address the needs of every student in the class.”

“Instead of teaching in the middle,” she said, teachers can tailor their methods to reach students at different levels.

Graduation coaches were implemented in the four high schools. There, the coaches help at-risk students stay on track through a variety of programs.

Daniels said the coaches have been “a success story,” as students have “an advocate to really bring the home, the community and the school support to them.”

This year also saw the implementation of a new science curriculum, something the state has put great emphasis on. Recently announced scores for first-time, 11th-grade takers of the Georgia High School Graduation Test saw a significant improvement in students’ science scores.

Students in middle grades, however, didn’t do quite as well on their big test, the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, or CRCT.

This year was the first for a new test, and math and science that once was tested at the eighth-grade level was instead tested at the sixth-grade level.

“We are still working through that switch,” said Daniels. Teachers will receive extra training in those subject areas and more emphasis will be put on science and math education at the elementary school level, she said.

Also, Monroe Comprehensive High School’s much-lauded Pre-Engineering, Mathematics and Technology Magnet Center of Excellence made its debut.

In 2007-08, Centers of Excellence will open at Albany High School and Westover Comprehensive High School. Each center focuses on different disciplines.

When students return in the fall they will wear identification badges, something implemented recently in the high schools only.

Through its ninth-grade academy, the school system already is addressing one of two at-risk groups. In the fall, it addresses the second — fifth- and sixth-graders.

“We are very excited about the fact that we are rolling out a fifth-grade and sixth-grade academy,” said Daniels. Students will attend these academies in their regular schools. “It’s a transition grade and it has been extremely challenging.”

The academies, she said, will provide a safety net for students, who will get an early taste of having different teachers, of having to take more responsibility for their studies and of having to be more organized.

The 2007-08 academic year begins Aug. 7.

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