Downtown, LaFayette, GA

The Georgia Main Street Program promotes collaboration between the public and private sectors to promote downtown revitalization through historic preservation. LaFayette Downtown Development Authority, or DDA, functions as the Main Street board of directors.

The LaFayette City Council reactivated its dormant DDA in 2005 following requests by downtown business owners to assist them in redeveloping and promoting downtown as an exciting place to shop, dine, work and live.

Some of the Main Street program’s greatest successes have been completing grant-funded upgrades to downtown storefronts, art projects coordinated with local schools and the rehabilitation of Chattooga Academy, which is believed to be the state’s oldest remaining brick schoolhouse. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg is said to have planned the Battle of Chickamauga while sitting under a tree on the school grounds. The building is also called John B. Gordon Hall in honor of the Confederate general and Georgia governor who attended the school as a boy. 

Main Street Press Release:

LaFayette has stepped up downtown revitalization efforts following it designation as an official Main Street city in 2007 by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Office of Downtown Development. 

The Georgia Main Street Program focuses on cities with a population between 5,000 and 50,000 and also includes a small-cities program called the Better Hometown Program, which focuses on cities with a population less than 5,000.  The Main Street Program focuses on historic preservation as a tool for downtown redevelopment.

“Like a lot of cities, LaFayette has seen many of its retail shops close or move out of downtown,” Mayor Neal Florence said.  “When residents and business owners asked for help to revitalize downtown, we asked the state to work with us to implement the Main Street program here. 

“Rome has been using the Main Street model for 25 years,” Florence said.  “Anyone who remembers downtown Rome before that can appreciate the improvements the program has made in that area’s appearance, safety and economic vitality.  We believe LaFayette will achieve similar successes.”

LaFayette Downtown Development Authority, or DDA, functions as the Main Street board of directors and guided the program through the 18-month designation process.

“LaFayette’s residents, business owners and officials pulled together to show their commitment to redevelop downtown,” former DDA Chairman Bob Hannah said.  “Rather than being the end of a process, designation marks the beginning of the next phase of our redevelopment efforts.  We expect this program to grow each year and to tackle larger projects as funding grows.”

“LaFayette’s Main Street program is working so well because of its strong partnerships with our local banks, schools, library, small businesses, civic groups, historical society and media, and the support of our citizens,” City Manager Johnnie Arnold said.

The city attorney is drafting an ordinance amendment to allow upstairs residences in the downtown business district, he said.  Many cities that have permitted upstairs residence have seen their downtowns revitalized.

Some of the program’s greatest successes have been completing the first facade-grant-funded project at Chapman’s Jewelry, Shear Time and Buttercup Alley, and art projects coordinated with local schools, LaFayette Main Street and Economic Development Director Catherine Edgemon said.

Students at LaFayette Middle School, LaFayette Sixth Grade Academy and Gilbert Elementary created portraits of downtown buildings, and downtown business owners displayed those portraits in their windows last fall.  Economic Restructuring Committee Chairman Gretchen Neal and her husband, state Rep. Jay Neal, donated a pair of football tickets for a fundraiser that netted $300 to purchase savings bonds for the winners of the building portrait contest.

“Working with the Main Street program has been a win-win for all of us,” Gilbert Elementary teacher Chris Sandow said.  “Students learn more about their community and feel a connection to the historic business district when they participate in these projects.  It makes them proud when their art is displayed at City Hall or in a store window for everyone to see.”

The DDA is working with art teachers on projects that are part of the Main Street program’s observance for National Preservation Month.

Art instructor Liz Hornik’s 8th-grade students are excited about the planned spring project, a glass mural featuring native plants and animals.

“My kids are mostly excited about breaking glass and making something that will go on display somewhere in town permanently,” Hornik said. 

The art project coincided with Phase One of Chattooga Academy’s rehabilitation, which will replace the roof and rebuild the first floor structure, Edgemon said.  The academy is believed to be the state’s oldest remaining brick schoolhouse.  Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg is said to have planned the Battle of Chickamauga while sitting under a tree on the school grounds.

The DDA will unveil its website soon, she said.  That site will feature a list of local businesses, a Downtown Business of the Month spotlight and calendar of community events.

DDA board member Frances Cobb serves on the Promotions Committee.  She grew up in LaFayette and moved back about two years ago.

“I got involved in Main Street because I believe in downtown and want to invest in LaFayette’s future,” she said.  “I urge business people and residents if they want to make a difference in their community to get involved in Main Street.”