Renaissance Strategic Vision & Plan

 

Outline of Projects

 

Organization

• Communications

• Communicating with Students Ongoing

  • GSW and SGTC Community Involvement Ongoing

• Connectivity

  • Connecting GSW and Americus High School Students to Downtown

• Connecting Downtown with GSW Campus Completed

  • Coordinating a transportation system during peak times to bring students downtown

• Electric Vehicle Charging Station Completed

• City Services Downtown

  • Keeping all city services such as bill-paying, downtown

• Civic Leadership Quarterly Meetings Completed

  • Improving communication with civic groups through quarterly meetings and planning sessions

• 100 Volunteers Completed

• Calendar Coordination and Promotion

• City Website

• Smile Americus Campaign

  • Positivity for tourists coming to town

 

Promotion

• Coordinate Extended-Hour Events

• Create a First Friday Event Completed

• Rylander Theatre

  • Kids Matinee Movies on Big Shopping Days

  • A Monthly Thursday, Friday, or Saturday Night Movie Completed

  • Rylander Social/Mixer

• Dinner and a Movie

• Farm to Table Walk

  • Showcase local foods in a fun and festive atmosphere

• Develop a “Shop Downtown” Campaign

• Advertise to Students Ongoing

• Promote 1, 2, and 3 day Trips Completed

• Yearly Fashion Events

 

Design

• Walk Campaign

• Clean Up Downtown

  • Maintenance

  • Light up Alleys at night Completed

• Improve the look of Gateways/Corridors In progress

• Infrastructure Connectivity (improvements)

  • Determine the maintenance schedule for all downtown infrastructure Completed

  • Sidewalks In progress

  • Bike lanes

  • Secondary roads

    • adding more sidewalks for foot traffic

  • Greening

    • planting trees on secondary roads

  • Curb Cuts

  • Connect Downtown and the Hwy 19 Park

• Beautify Downtown Derelict Properties In progress

• Playground at Lenny’s Farmer’s Market

• Jackson Street Depot Completed

• Traffic-Calming Solutions In progress

• Pedestrians along Lamar Street and West Forsyth Streets In progress

  • Make crossing the street safe

  • Add more crosswalks, bike lanes, etc.

• Rylander Park In progress

• Complete Street Policy Completed

  • Making the streets safer for citizens to walk and bike all over Americus

• Design Helper Group Completed

  • Free consultation for façade improvements and historic preservation

• Garden Club Downtown Planters Completed

• Façade Grant Program Completed

 

Economic Vitality

• Business Retention

  • Business retention and expansion in progress

  • Business recruitment through SGTC and GSW

  • Recruit new businesses In progress

  • Downtown incentive workshop

• Housing Redevelopment Tools

• SGTC, GSW, and Downtown

  • Downtown property development or programmatic opportunities for future SGTC and GSW campus needs

• Code Enforcement Completed

• Safety Grants Completed

  • Wiring and fire safety grants to encourage upper-story housing redevelopment

• Form-Based Code

  • The appearance of buildings

• Arts and Entertainment District Completed

  • Using vacant areas of downtown for arts and entertainment

 

Outside of Downtown:

• McGarrah Street Entry Corridor

  • Decrease road width

  • Incorporate Civil Rights memorabilia to pay homage to Americus’ rich Civil Rights history

• Historic Residential Neighborhoods

• Land Bank Completed

  • Used to effectively manage and repurpose an inventory of underused, abandoned, or foreclosed properties

• Muckalee Creek Park Improvements In progress

  • Making improvements to programming a canoe and kayak launch, rear entry pedestrian and biking access that connect to downtown, trails, wayfinding signage and a dog park

• Rails with Trails Cannot Happen

  • Adding a greenway that runs adjacent to the railroad tracks

• Golf Carts