Canton's $25 Mil Etowah River Greenway Project Breaking Ground in January
GlobeSt.com; New York; Nov 8, 2001; Roxanna Guilford-Blake

Abstract:
CANTON, GA-The first construction phase of the long-planned venture, 40 miles northwest of Downtown Atlanta, should be finished by yearend 2002. The entire project is scheduled for completion by 2006.

Full Text:
(Copyright (c) 2001 by GlobeSt.com LLC)

CANTON, GA-After months of planning, anticipating and a few delays, Canton officials tell GlobeSt.com the $25 million, four-mile long Etowah River Greenway is ready to roll. Canton is 40 miles northwest of Downtown Atlanta.

Phase I of the construction will begin in January and should be finished by the end of 2002. The entire project is scheduled to be completed by 2006.

Jordan, Jones, & Goulding will plan, design and manage the project. The natural riverscape will wind through the city.

Originally scheduled to begin this fall, the greenway will feature parks, a festival field, an amphitheater, historical monuments, multi-use trails and other amenities. Financing is pending.

City officials report they have enough money to complete phase one and are working to find funds for the remainder of the project. Canton plans to follow Chattanoogas example. The Tennessee city, 110 miles from Canton and 118 miles from Atlanta, obtained financing from grants, corporate contributions and individual donations. Canton is also looking at other sources of funding.

The site lies in what was the capital region of the Cherokee nation from pre-Colonial times to the Trail of Tears. Capitalizing on this, the plans include a $2 million Etowah Heritage Plaza.

City leaders view the project as the catalyst to tie recent population and job growth together with a family and environmentally friendly recreation area. Melanie Whitt, Canton's director of economic development, did not return GlobeSt.com's phone calls by press time, but city officials have compared the proposal to the riverwalks in San Antonio and Chattanooga.

When he first announced the project, Canton Mayor Cecil Pruett called it both a buffer from and magnet for economic development.

"Looking at growth in cities such as San Antonio and Chattanooga, one sees that their riverwalks were the catalysts for economic development," he said at the time. "The same is envisioned for the Etowah River Greenway."

In anticipation for further growth, the plan buffers much of the river corridor from development. And development is imminent. Canton is in the heart of fast-growing Cherokee County. It already has millions of square feet of office and retail planned, and perhaps more significantly, the proposed Northern Arc highway will run right by the city, making it even more attractive to developers.

According Richard Bowers & Co.'s third quarter report, in the Northwest/I-75 Corridor has 36.126 million sf of industrial space, of which 5.3 million sf is vacant. At the time of the report, 420,640 sf was under construction. The vacancy rate is 14.75%. Average cost is $6.11 per sf.

Among projects in the works:

--The Bluffs of Technology Park. Technology Park Atlanta Inc plans to acquire a 628-acre tract in Canton, off of I-575. The $500 million project, designed to attract high quality technology-oriented companies, will be similar to the original Technology Park in the Peachtree Corners area of Gwinnett County. On build-out, the project is expected to contain up to five million sf of developed space.

--Canton Commerce Center. Industrial Investments is developing about 113,000 sf in the center near Georgia 20 and I-575.