The Crown jewel of Dalton?

DALTON — The Crown Mill area just northwest of downtown Dalton offers Doyal Swafford the perfect blend of fun, relaxation and people.

For the past five years Swafford and his wife, Liz, have lived in Crown Mill Village Lofts, which is the former home of the historic Crown Cotton Mills established in 1884. They’ve found the area safe, secluded and a great place to live.

“That’s what I like about it, it’s remained the same,” said the 39-year-old Swafford. “There’s a wide varieties of occupations there. We had a legislator, we’ve got a surgeon, doctors, teachers. We’ve got just a little bit of everybody living there. It’s a great place to live if you like people.”

Now, local officials are examining ways to reinvent the Crown Mill area by turning it into a thriving arts and culture center. On Saturday, more than 40 people perused diagrams and offered their opinions on three designs to improve the Crown Mill area during an event at the Freight Depot hosted by the Dalton-Whitfield Planning Office.

The three design proposals each create an arts and cultural overlay district with differing amenities ranging from an expansive amphitheater to a farming co-op to a nature center to the imagined Crown Mill Brew House — all anchored by a sizable park just off Chattanooga Avenue and connected to downtown by a trolley. Many of the ideas were carried throughout all three designs, while the proposals also had unique features. For example, the amphitheater is in all designs. A ridge walk is only found in the third proposal.

The district would keep established uses and promote new arts and cultural endeavors, including a few small live entertainment venues (up to 4,000 square feet) in neighborhood or mixed-use areas that blend in with nearby residential areas. The district includes lots facing North Hamilton Street and Chattanooga Avenue between Springfield Road and West Tyler Street and Chenille Drive and West Tyler Street. Organizers said a key is balancing daytime and nighttime uses with about 20 percent cocktail lounges and 80 percent other uses, including art galleries, coffee shops, restaurants, museums, and theaters up to 6,000 square feet.

The project’s goal is to turn the Crown Mill area into a place where residents can live, work and play. Dalton City Administrator Ty Ross lives in the historic Murray Hill district just outside of downtown. He lives just blocks away from his office at City Hall and often rides his bicycle to the nearby Green Spot to pick up groceries. He believes other Daltonians would like that option.

“This isn’t a fantasyland,” Ross said. “These elements have been tried and been successful in other communities throughout the country.” Interns from the University of Georgia’s Archway Partnership spent about two weeks developing the proposals. The Archway Partnership uses the college’s resources to improve communities throughout the state. The interns came to Dalton in late May and leave later this month. The interns who worked on the project — all landscape architecture majors at UGA — were Casey Marbutt, James Stephenson and Cameron Yates.

Marbutt said the group spent about two weeks on the project and received guidance from City/County Planner Kevin Herrit. The first proposal was on the smallest scale, while the third was the most radical. The second proposal was a middle ground effort. Marbutt said he was surprised most of the comments he heard were positive, especially with the proposals on the third design.

“Whenever you offer proposals to change, people are going to be hesitant,” said Marbutt, who is from Eatonton. “But I’ve found people are very open to these ideas we’ve come up with.”

Area anchored with history

The current area has a historical atmosphere with the Crown Cotton Mill already renovated into loft apartments, improvements to the 170-year-old Hamilton House and the 126-year-old Crown Gardens and Archives, and the old Crown Mill store the city of Dalton plans to renovate. The iconic Mount Rachel Star, which is lit each Christmas season, is perched above the area. There are several business in the area, including Columbia Recycling, and a Dalton Utilities water treatment plant. Many of the homes are older, with many showing their age.

Erik Gallman spends most of his work days — and days off — at the Crown Gardens and Archives as the executive secretary of the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society.

He is excited about the park amphitheater because it ties in with botanical trails the Historical Society has planned, renovations to the Archives and the reopening of the Hamilton House in November. However, Gallman believes the plans encompass too large of an area and should be more centralized in the Crown Mill area.

“I see some really positive things,” Gallman said. “There are some other things that I’m not sure how well they’ll be able to be implemented. But overall, it’s a good impression.”

Swafford, too, was impressed with many of the ideas presented.

“I think they’re a good idea for quality of life for the community at Crown Mill and for the Dalton community,” Swafford said. “I’m looking forward to it. My wife and I are looking forward to it. My only concern is that with everybody that is part of the program is to keep in mind this is a residential area.”

Paying the bills

One big question is how to pay for it all. Both city and county governments have cut spending and have scaled back on projects. Herrit said the overall project would be funded by private businesses and local governments, but there are also grants available. The city already owns roughly five acres of the proposed park and other land in the proposed district.

“We’re hoping that public can come in and start with these little projects,” Herrit said. “They can build out the park, they can put in the infrastructure for the trolley, we can put in the overlay district zone. But then, as people come in and like what they see, developers say, ‘Hey, I can work with that.’”

The designs and proposals should be on the county’s website (www.whitfieldcountyga.com) by Tuesday. The next step is taking the comments from attendees at Saturday’s event and holding another forum to present a more concrete plan, Herrit said.

Local News

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

Proposals turn former mill area into arts, cultural district

Site Map

Contact Us