Old Morrow

Good news: the rail line described in last week's article is dead. The Georgia DOT board ousted the head of the department and immediately thereafter dropped the lawsuit which had been filed at the last minute in order to allow for heavy rail to pass through Atlanta's Piedmont Park. 

On another front, the interactive water feature located in the town green of Old Morrow, in Morrow, Georgia, has been started and appears to be a great success. The latest phase of construction at Olde Morrow is now well underway with the completion of the town square fountain. This  interactive fountain features dancing jets of water surrounding a 20 foot tall central jet. Kids and adults alike can interact with the fountain which will provide a wonderful combination of sound and action all year round. The fountain is the centerpiece of the new town green. When the water is turned off, the cobblestone basin also serves as a central point for special events while the rest of the town green can do double duty as an amphitheatre or festival lawn. 

Moving forward, the walks and streets surrounding the town green connect a variety of uses including restaurants, shops, entertainment, small businesses and homes providing Morrow with a fun and safe entertainment district which is also close to home. The project is an effort to create a downtown in a suburban town which evolved largely during the middle of the last century in an auto centered suburb without a center. The town has been buying endangered old houses from all over the state and relocating them to Old Morrow and reconstructing and renovating them on site. Of note, the houses include the home of a former governor, a very pretty victorian house of about 3500 square feet, and two antebellum mansions of 6 to 7 thousand square feet. One of the mansions came from  downtown Macon and the other from a farm. The old houses will be primarily used for restaurants, retail and office space around the town square while residential uses will be concentrated in a ring of modern live-work spaces which surround the core area. 

Of special interest, no cars will be allowed into  the central area; it is to be totally pedestrian. Parking will be in  lots on the edges of the downtown core area. Morrow is growing by leaps and bounds. Clayton State college is located in town as is the new State Archive. The new town center is seen as an attraction which will allow residents and students to find a diverse shopping and night life experience without having to drive to Atlanta. Old Morrow has been located within sight of I-75 and next to a mall which is being converted to a broader mix of uses including a civic center and office space. Design and engineering for the project has been done by the Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering studios at Pond & Company in Atlanta.