An event slated for this afternoon, billed as a “community conversation” focused on the old Southern Mill property on Oneta Street and its surrounding intown Athens neighborhood, promises some “fresh news” on the mill and Millworks, the project aimed at transforming the site into a mixed-use development.
Organized by Michael Smith, whose family owns one of the handful of old mill houses on nearby Bryan Street, the event is slated for 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at Hendershot’s Coffee in The Bottleworks at 237 Prince Avenue.
The centerpiece for the event will be a discussion moderated by Pratt Cassity, the public service and outreach director for the University of Georgia’s College of Environment and Design, featuring Scott Haines, a landscape architect and project representative for Millworks.
Following that discussion, Katie Andrew and Tim Bryant of local radio station WGAU will moderate a discussion focused on how any future development along Bryan Street and elsewhere in the Oneta Street area can complement the Millworks project, how the local creative community might help revitalize the area, and how a comprehensive approach to transportation alternatives can improve the area, Smith explained.
Currently slated to participate as a panel for that discussion, among others, are Jared Bybee of Thinc at UGA, an entrepreneurial initiative of the University of Georgia; Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Melissa Link; Tyler Dewey, executive director of BikeAthens; and Tony Eubanks of Complete Streets-Prince Avenue. That discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Also slated to speak this afternoon, according to a news release announcing the event, is Kristen Morales, president of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and the Boulevard Neighborhood Association.