Drawing of future Buford High School. Construction is underway.By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | One of the bright areas in Gwinnett in 2017 is the tremendous vision, funding and activity going on in some of our cities.
Partially funded by the cities of Gwinnett’s greater share of SPLOST funds, but augmented by growth in city revenues, there is a feeling of bustle and movement in some of Gwinnett’s cities that is nothing less than exciting.
We expected it in the youngest Gwinnett city, that of Peachtree Corners, since they are newly formed, and need all sorts of municipal facilities.
And we have seen it for years first in Suwanee and then in Duluth. Suwanee first had to envision a new center of town, their Town Center, built around a spacious new City Hall. Among its many other activities, the city embarked on an innovative art plan for the city, culminating in its annual Sculptour.
Duluth focused its major activities in their downtown area and its Village Green, plus re-locating its City Hall to one edge of the Green. Now it’s completing a major re-build of the downtown area. It’s also getting more than 400 apartments coming to the direct downtown area.
Meanwhile, Lilburn is re-focusing the city, building the new combined City Hall and Library to the uptown area, nearest major streets. Now it concentrates on renovating its former City Hall into a larger police headquarters.
Lawrenceville has a host of major projects underway, totaling nearly $100 million. That includes creating a linear park from downtown to Georgia Gwinnett College, major gas distribution infrastructure improvements, moving their public works location, and other activities.
Main Street Grayson is encouraging businesses with its “BOOST” activity, helping firms to move to their next level of growth.
Norcross is moving, somewhat slowly, in developing plans for a new library, and eventually has plans to move the police department out of City Hall to the former library location.
Buford always has improvements underway, with the big ticket being a new $70 million high school, for 2,000 students, up 50 percent from its current 1,300 enrollment, to open in the fall of 2019. Other activities in Buford include $14 million in streetscape projects for Lee and Moreno Streets. Then there’s to be an elevated parking deck built over the park in front of the old City Hall which will cost between $6-8 million. (The trees in the park are to stay.) Coming soon will be a $22 million arena seating 6,000 for the performing arts and sports. Already scheduled this year are six games of professional indoor football!
Sugar Hill is perhaps in the most extensive expansion mode of all Gwinnett cities, as it is building a new downtown around its relatively new (and paid for) City Hall. In about a walkable half mile area, there will be something between $250-$300 million in new multi-story developments, some paid for with city funds, others with private development monies. About 1,000 new residents will live in this area. Some call it a “dense, urban development in a suburban setting.” Wow!
There’s a lot more going on in other cities, of course. We can’t recount it all here.
Yet the key factor in all this is not just the money. It’s the close working association between the city leaders, their paid staff, their consultants and their engineers. But more than anything else, to move forward, the leaders of governments must work together and have a consensus who have the motivation, the ability to think forward and envision possibilities……of their future.
That’s what exciting about most of our Gwinnett cities.
Forward evermore! Old Button Gwinnett would be mighty proud!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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