The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

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  • Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen Melba Gallegly, left, and Wilma Gibson, who work at Studio 312 hair salon downtown, say they worry about the impact on parking if Crawford Street is transformed.

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May 16, 2010

Crawford Street merchants excited about city’s plans for street

Charles Oliver Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — Several merchants along Crawford Street say they are excited about Dalton’s plans to create a median on the street and make it more attractive. But some expressed concern about what the proposal will do to parking.

“I like the idea of bringing more green into downtown and making it friendlier for festivals and other events,” said Kenneth Harkess, an architect with JKH Architects.

City officials two weeks ago unveiled a proposal to create a median down the center of the street, which has a 95-foot right of way, between Selvidge Street and Pentz Street. That would be the first step in longer-term plans to make the street an outdoor mall with a walkway over the railroad tracks to a planned park between the tracks and Glenwood Avenue.

“I think it will look great and be beneficial. It will make downtown look better, more inviting. And it will help bring more people downtown,” said Gerald Martin, owner of Barrett’s Flower Shop.

Wilma Gibson and Melba Gallegly, who work at the Studio 312 hair salon, say they appreciate efforts to make the street look better. But they add they worry about what impact the proposal would have on parking.

“I’ve already had a customer who said ‘If that happens, I will have to find somewhere else to get my hair done. If the parking gets as bad as I think it’s going to, I’ll have to go somewhere else,’” said Gallegly.

 Gallegly said customers aren’t likely to use either of the parking decks in the city.

“We do hair, and if it’s raining, why would someone get their hair done, then walk two blocks to get into a car?” she said.

Gibson agrees.

“We are already short of parking. It would be nice if they could make things look better and add parking. Something like what they have in front of The Wink would be great,” she said, referring to the median on Crawford between Pentz and Hamilton streets.

City Administrator Ty Ross said that many details of the proposal still haven’t been decided, including just how wide the median might be. That decision might have an impact on parking, he says, since parking on the street might have to be changed to parallel parking to accommodate a very wide median.

But Ross said the city will hold a public meeting with business and property owners along the street before settling on a final plan.

“We’ve got some architectural interns coming in this summer. They will drill down into some of the details and also help facilitate a meeting with downtown stakeholders,” Ross said.

Several merchants in the area said they would attend that meeting.æ

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