From the Mayor's Desk - The Mill at Village Green

A motion was made to proceed with phase one of the Avanti project which includes demolition of old Avanti mill building and construction of The Mill at Village Green, the motion carried and the city will now move forward with the final design and construction of The Mill at Village Green-Villa Rica City Council meeting, Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

The Main Street Historical Preservation Committee focuses on preservation of our Historic buildings and sites and watches these carefully. Most recently we lost the original fire station and the old Powell-Berry-Powell Clinic so the committees concern focused on the depilated mill buildings connected to the old Avanti Building. This committee's goal is to preserve as much of Villa Rica's storied past as possible because they realize, as I realize, that once a historic structure is removed that history is gone.

From the concern for the old mill buildings downtown grew the idea of a green/gathering space for downtown Villa Rica. The committee put on their thinking caps and out of their thoughts came the formation of The Mill at Village Green. A multi-functional facility where the Main Street program could move all of their downtown events and have ample space for spectators and participants. Not only would our current events move to this location there are so many more opportunities for additional events and activities with this venue.

The committees' original plan was to restore and maintain the original wooden floor located in the second mill building and use this as the stage floor. The committee took the challenge!

After the decision was made to take on this project the committee worked with Darryl Ray of Hughes-Ray Company, Inc. to come up with a conceptual drawing. With the input from the committee Darryl brought together a drawing which was exactly what the committee envisioned. The next step was money-so they searched and found 2003 SPLOST money that was designated for the City of Villa Rica for Green Space that had not yet been tapped into. A presentation was put together along with a cost for construction and with presentation and figures in hand the committee along with myself and our City Manager, Larry Wood headed over to the Carroll County Board of Commissioner board meeting and made our case for a portion of the 2003 Green Space SLOST dollars. At the first commission meeting we received very positive feedback from the commissioners, which of course put smiles on all our faces.

Our next step was to wait and wait we did. Then at the December 2008 Carroll County Board of Commissioner meeting the board agreed this was a positive project for downtown Villa Rica and voted to give the city $400,000 for our Mill at Village Green project.

The rest is history (no pun intended)! Presentations were made to city council and there was much discussion regarding this project, a redesign of the original drawing by Park & Recreation Department Director Jeff Reese, which included a design for a new the City Hall complex was presented to the Villa Rica City Council. Our council saw the potential and the positives for our downtown and voted to proceed with this project.

I personally want to say "Thanks"� to the Historic Preservation Committee for opening their minds and seeing the possibility for this property. None of this would be happening if this committee (Valerie Wilhelm, Patricia Proctor and Barbara Daniell) had not had a Vision for Villa Rica's future.