Albany Commission will revisit downtown park project at October retreat

ALBANY – A concept for a bit of greenery in the heart of downtown Albany is going back to the drawing board as it received a less-than-unanimous reception at a first hearing.

After the idea was raised during an August Albany City Commission work session, the commission decided to delay action and put the proposal on the agenda of its October retreat.

Part of the city’s downtown revitalization master plan, the so-called Central Commons park would sit in the parking lot west of the Flint River Resource Center at the corner of  North Washington Street and Pine Avenue. 

It would include greenspace, a coffee shop and stage area, according to drawings presented to the city.

“I believe Central Commons is a very important project, and I think it’s going to take a variety of funding,” Commissioner Chad Warbington said.

The price tag for the park is about $4 million, commissioners noted.

The city could draw from a variety of funds, including a special-purpose local-option sales tax (SPOST) initiative, utilities and downtown redevelopment funds, Warbington said. The October retreat will give commissioners time to discuss options for the project.

“I think it was a smart idea to get funding clear before we move much further,” he said. 

A nearby apartment complex a block to the south on North Washington Street is expected to bring dozens of new tenants downtown when it is completed, and Warbington said Central Commons would be a draw for people looking to touch grass, walk their dogs or hang out.

The stage would allow for outdoor concerts as well.

“Right now, it’s a sea of asphalt there,” he said. “It doesn’t encourage gathering. Parks and greenspaces encourage gathering. If you put a greenspace there, it gives a destination for people to go. It gives opportunities for downtown events. I think when the project comes to fruition, it’s going to be a great project.”

Some criticism has included the loss of parking that the site would mean and questions of the necessity of another park in close proximity to nearby Riverfront Park on North Front Street.

“Behind the (Flint) RiverQuarium, there are hundreds of (parking) spaces,” Warbington said. ”There are two parking decks. There’s plenty of other parking downtown.”

Mayor Bo Dorough said he is hoping that the retreat discussion Oct. 3-5 will be a chance to convince a majority of commissioners the importance of Central Commons.

It would be a “catalytic project” that “brings it all together,” the mayor said, pointing to other projects that have been completed, like the St. Nicholas Hotel on North Washington Street, or are in the works like the apartments at the former Davis Exchange Bank building and the Albany Museum of Art’s renovation of the former Belk Building.

“It’s one of the pivotal projects,” Dorough said. “It’s instrumental to the ongoing efforts to revitalize downtown, and indeed it’s a foundation for future projects. We’re going to talk about it at the retreat.”

The site is currently used as parking and for food truck events that Downtown Albany hosts during the spring and fall. 

One objection that Commissioner Diana Brown mentioned is using refunds that the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia has paid to Albany Utilities to fund the park. She also questioned the need for two parks in the downtown area.

“We need to be frugal with taxpayers’ money,” she said. “They didn’t allow the utility board to discuss where that money should have gone. It should have gone to these senior citizens.”

Brown’s preference is for a rebate to ratepayers who have paid their utility bills, some of them for decades, 

“Our seniors are on a fixed income, and their money only goes so far,” Brown said. “Some of them can’t get food on the table, yet they can say we’re going to put $4 million into Central Commons. We don’t need two parks down there.

“At the end of the day we’ve got to be better stewards of the taxpayers’ money and the rebates we get back from MEAG.” 

Commissioner Jon Howard said he would like to learn more about how the park could potentially increase foot traffic downtown.

“That would be needed to decide what we’re going to do,” he said.