WE WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS BELOW
DeKalb Tech students help plan future of Clarkston
DeKalb Technical College students recently presented a draft of a new city-center design to Clarkston City Council this week. Nine drafting students at DeKalb Tech have been working for the past five months on a plan that Clarkston city officials hope will bring new life into the small DeKalb County town.
Clarkston City Council member Emanuel Ransom said he’s displeased with the current center of town. He laments the lack of banks, ice cream stores and other businesses that would draw people to the city center. He hopes the plan drafted by DeKalb Tech students will revitalize the 127-year-old community.
“Most of our about 6,500 citizens do not even trade here in Clarkston, so we’re trying to redevelop the whole downtown area to make it a viable, pedestrian friendly, walkable city,” Ransom said. A chance conversation between Ransom and Dr. Tanya Gorman, DeKalb Tech vice president of academic affairs, earlier this year led to the collaborative project between Clarkston and DeKalb Tech.
“Councilman Ransom provided the vision and the interns took on the task of turning that vision into a reality for the city of Clarkston and its residents,” said Natoshia Anderson, drafting intern director for DeKalb Technical College.
The project includes a lot of green space and walkways. That’s something that Mayor Lee Swaney applauds. “I think it will be great for the city of Clarkston,” commented Swaney, who said of DeKalb Tech, “It’s like a sister city to us; we hold hands.”
The project was formally presented to the Clarkston City Council Aug. 4. “It is an excellent partnership, because not only are they going to get academic credit, it’s probably going to be a future job opportunity for them,” Ransom said.
What started out as a sleepy railroad town more than a century ago has evolved into a bedroom community with little more in the downtown area than car repair shops and abandoned buildings.
|
