$6.5M Downtown Redesign Approved By Smyrna City Council

SMYRNA, GA — Downtown Smyrna will look a little different in the coming months, thanks to a Smyrna City Council vote Monday night.

Smyrna City Council members approved a nearly $7 million makeover near Smyrna Market Village in a 5-2 vote Monday night, with Council Members Susan Wilkinson and Charles "Corkey" Welch voting in opposition.

Concept plans, led by Croy Engineering, include replacing the fountain and roundabout at the front of the city's library with a green space and splash pad; building a 250-spot parking deck; extending King Street to Powder Springs Street; and adding a stoplight at the corner of Powder Springs Street and Atlanta Road.

Mayor Derek Norton said public input and studies on the redevelopment of downtown have been going on since 2019. But some critics of the plans — including the roughly 50 residents who attended one of Wilkinson's town halls over the weekend, according to the Marietta Daily Journal — say it feels rushed, and some say they prefer leaving downtown as is.

However, Norton said during Monday’s council meeting that the community has had chances since 2019 to give input and mention concerns.

"As with anything of this magnitude, we will never make everyone happy," Norton said.

He also said that he heard from thousands of residents about "the need for a downtown refresh to activate stale areas and bring energy" during his 2019 mayoral campaign. He said he believes this plan will accomplish those goals.

Other critics, including Welch, are concerned that removing the roundabout could hinder traffic flow in the area. Welch told the MDJ that the proposed parking deck may be too big for its proposed plot.

The downtown redesign is funded through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) money, which voters approved in November and will take effect Jan. 1, 2022. The green space and parking deck are estimated to cost $2.5 million and $4 million, respectively.

If construction were to begin by the end of October this year, engineers estimate it could be complete by August 2022, but an official timeline would have to wait until further along in the process.

Norton has also proposed selling a portion of land between the community center and Atlanta Road to Suwanee's StillFire Brewing for a three-level brewery, though those plans were not included in those approved Tuesday. The proceeds would be used for a new public park next to the brewery, featuring a playground and dog park.

You can view the full concept plan below, or in the online Smyrna City Council agenda here.

Read more: Downtown Smyrna Makeover Is In The Works

Concept plan courtesy of the city of Smyrna and Croy Engineering: