Whitlock Avenue temporarily closed for railroad maintenance

CSX Railroad has requested the Georgia Department of Transportation temporarily close Whitlock Avenue at the railroad crossing near the Marietta Square for scheduled maintenance Wednesday, May 31 at 9 a.m. until Friday, June 2 at 5 a.m.

CSX performs maintenance of the crossings every two to five years to smooth and improve the efficiency of the tracks for personal vehicles and trains.

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The amazing C-141 Starlifter transport plane is being retired and will no longer be produced at Lockheed. This plane had an amazing military career and brought many jobs to Lockheed Martin. Did you know anyone that flew in once of these or worked on them at Lockheed? We would love to hear about this from you - Share your opinions below!

MARIETTA, GA (AP) — The C-141 Starlifter transport plane designed and produced by Lockheed-Martin’s Marietta plant has been retired after a distinguished 43-year career. The cargo plane’s career included service in every military operation from Vietnam to Iraq.

It served as a massive air ambulance, a troop transport and as the plane that brought the first American prisoners of war out of Vietnam. For that duty it was dubbed the “Hanoi Taxi.”

From 1963 to 1968, a total of 285 C-141 planes were built at the Marietta plant. Of the surviving planes, 13 are now in museums, NASA owns one and 251 already have been retired.

In its most upgraded form, the C-141-B, the airplane could carry 200 troops, 155 paratroops, 14 aeromedical attendants and a maximum cargo of 68-thousnd, 725 pounds. It had its own oxygen lines for patients and could be used as a massive ambulance for wounded.

A C-141 Air Force Reserve transport plane, the last in service, was retired May 6th after landing near the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson air base in Ohio. Some of the veterans and pilots wept when the engines were shut down.

My family and I are on vacation this week in Florida. A couple days ago, we stopped by the local post office to mail some items. The facility was very well-kept and was probably built in the last 10 years, at most. It made me think of our Marietta post office, downtown. Everyone I know always mentions the parking issue. The building has been around since I can remember as a child. I don’t know if anything has been proposed in recent years, but what about a new facility for Marietta?

The recently-opened government building on Whitlock Avenue (at Manning Road) is a great model for any new post office ideas to follow. Across the street, the unused space where Ace Hardware used to be could be converted into a nice, new post office facility. Imagine all the parking space and all the square footage inside. Does the back of the building offer sufficient space for deliveries and dropoffs? I’m not sure. There are probably other spaces available around the downtown area which could be used for a new post office — be sure to share your opinions, Marietta!

Don’t miss out on the Free Concert this Friday at 8pm by the Jesters, a pop-rock group. See you all there!

Family activities start two hours before the 8 p.m. concert by the Jesters, a pop-rock group. Officials will hand out slices from 10 birthday cakes with scenes of the park on top.

Two decades ago, Marietta Square’s park was down on its heels. Elm disease had killed many of the trees. The fountain and bandstand were in bad shape, and there was more dirt than grass.

At a private reception last week, Jim Glover said the park had been in bad shape for many years. He remembers his mother telling him as a child not to play there because he would get too dirty. The Glovers, one of Marietta’s founding families, gave the land to the city in 1852 with the stipulation that it always be used as a public park.

Glover said his grandfather, James Bolan Glover, fought Marietta’s attempts to turn the land into a parking deck in the mid-1960s. Public sentiment in favor of the park prompted a legal battle to save the property, he said. Rumors about the parking deck continued, though, through the years.

Developer John Williams said he heard the park was in jeopardy in 1985 when he was acting chairman of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. He got behind efforts to renovate the park with a $250,000 gift and a pledge to maintain landscaping for 10 years. Private and corporate gifts and city funds accounted for $500,000 more.

“I am glad I was a part of this. It’s a great public space for people to enjoy,” Williams said. “This is a great legacy for the city.”

Marietta is again scheduling a discussion on gang activity in the city and in Cobb County. Be sure to check out the presentation in the middle of June.

(Marietta, Ga. – May 23, 2006) Community leaders and residents are invited to a presentation about the growing problem of gangs in Cobb County.

Co-sponsored by the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission, Cobb County Department of Public Safety, CAGE Unit, NSC and East Cobb Civic Association, the gang awareness public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 15 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, 955 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta.

“Gangs are a growing issue both across the country and in our community. In today’s society our children are adversely influenced by a host of issues that were not prevalent 20 years ago and are difficult to deal with. Gang influence is one of those issues we must be aware of and take action to prevent,” said G.M. Lloyd, Cobb County Department of Public Safety director.

Topics to be covered during the presentation include steps being taken by law enforcement and schools to help reduce gang criminal activity and how businesses and individual citizens can help. A panel discussion and question and answer session will follow the presentation. The Cobb County CAGE Unit, Cobb Underage Drinking Taskforce, C.E.R.T. and NSC will all be present.

For more information contact JoAnn Birrell at (404) 394-9601.

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Released by:
Erin Grizzle
Robert Quigley
(770) 528-2480

Sunday afternoon, the Polk Street Players closed out their 2005-2006 on a funny note, with their production of Ray Cooney’s Funny Money. This British comedy kept the audience laughing with the story of Henry Perkins’ (played by Greg Fitzgerald) discovery of a briefcase containing over 900,000 pounds. In an effort to conceal this discovery, the characters found themselves in a tangled web of lies, while play-goers were tangled in a web of laughter. Perkins’ wife, Jean (played by Amy Rundbaken-Smith) represented the morality of making the right decision, until the pressure of that role drives her straight to the whiskey bottle. The Perkins’ friends, Vic and Betty Johnson, (played by Ned Thurman and Amy Palys) join them in the plight of figuring out what to do with, or rather, how to spend the money. Betty, an adventurous spirit, is willing to jump into the middle of the mess, while her husband Vic, is confused into submission of Henry and Betty’s plans for the money. Throw in a corrupt officer, an honest detective, and a lively taxi driver, and you have a recipe for theatre that is sure to please.

The Polk Street Players feature their productions on the stage of the Stellar Cellar. Formed in 1979, they are a community theatre group sponsored by Marietta’s own St. James Episcopal Church. Polk Street Players present pieces from all genres including comedy, drama, and thrillers. The actresses, actors, and crews are locals from the parish and throughout the metro Atlanta area.

The Polk Street Players will begin their 28th season this summer. Check back here for future shows and dates.

In recent years, the working class home buyers in Marietta have been challenged with finding an affordable place to live in the city. Areas such as the lower income housing Johnny Walker homes have been demolished, amongst others, in hopes of a new grand plan for the city. According to the MDJ,

The Marietta Housing Authority is considering becoming a developer in its own right and might forego working with familiar big-name companies as it makes plans for the redevelopment of the Lyman Homes public housing project near Cherokee and Montgomery streets, MHA Executive Director Ray Buday said last week.

This is going to be an interesting move for the city. Only time will tell. What do you think? Should the city be getting their hands into a new redevelopment effort instead of letting a company take charge and develop the site?

As we have been reporting to you earlier this year, the Strand renovation is moving along nicely. According to the AJC, there are quite some mixed opionion on the progress that is being made with the renovation/restoration.

Published on: 05/18/06

The Strand Theater on the Marietta Square plans to host a grand reopening next summer. The 1930s-era theater is being restored to seat 500 for shows and will include a coffee shop and an open-air reception area. Last week, the Cobb County Commission approved a $250,000 grant to push restoration along. Friends of the Strand, the nonprofit group restoring the theater, has a 50-year lease on the building, which is owned by the Goldstein family. The lease is rent-free for the first eight years. After that, rent will start at $10,000 a month.

While the county government agreed to a contribution, the matter has been a little sticky. A commissioner and various Cobb residents have said they are wary of putting tax money into the venture.

Here is a snapshot of some opinions of residents of Cobb County according to an AJC article

Cobb Opinions asked people in the Marietta Square:

Yes. It’s a good idea. If the theater is restored, it would benefit the whole area.

JAMIE HUMPHREY, Marietta

Maybe. Generally, I don’t think government should give money to private groups. And, I wonder what I might have to give up if the county is spending tax money that way. But, I’d rather the government give money to something like that than social welfare programs.

DAVID DAWSON, Acworth

No. I don’t necessarily think the county should spend money on the theater; the city perhaps, since it is in Marietta. I live in east Cobb, and I don’t get up to the square that often, so I’m not sure it would directly benefit me. I do hope that the private group trying to restore it makes a go of it. I’ve seen various groups through the years try to restore it.

TIFFANY McKINNON, East Cobb

No. If it will be privately operated and privately benefit from profits, then the theater should not receive money from the government. Once it opens, it will pay for itself. It will be successful.

KEITH HINES, Marietta

Yes. I think the county should give the money. My family is here all the time, and we would use it. Sure, the theater won’t benefit everyone, but nothing ever does. Besides, for the county, $200,000 is a drop in the bucket compared with what it spends money on.

LAURIE STRICKLAND, Marietta

Yes. Sure. Contribute the money. It is a great idea to keep a nice historic site going. The money will go there, or someplace else. We might as well know where it goes.

CHRISTINA TEMBO, Marietta

What do you all think? Is the progress that’s being made a good thing? Is it to connected to certain Marietta families that have a vested interest in the project? What are you thoughts/opinions? Discuss it below!

Community leaders and the city honored donors and friends of Glover Park’s renovation during a 20th anniversary celebration this week on the Square. In 1852 Marietta Mayor John Heyward Glover presented the city with land for its first park in the center of the town’s square. In the mid 1980s, prominent Cobb County developer John Williams donated money for a complete renovation of the park, and a blue-ribbon panel raised additional funds to help make the park what it is today. The renovation began in October of 1985, and the park was reopened in a public celebration May 17, 1986.

It looks like the number of building permits in Cobb County is decreasing over recent years according to an article we came across in the MDJ…

Building permits issued for single-family residential homes in Cobb County have dropped 28 percent through April compared to a year ago.

To date, 1,610 building permits have been issued. By May 2005, 2,253 permits had been issued.

In February 2005, 527 permits were issued while only 458 were issued in 2006. In March 2005, 578 permits were issued and only 423 in 2006. April posted the largest difference. In 2005, 719 permits were issued while only 297 permits were issued last month.

Lee McClead, manager of development and inspections for Cobb County Community Development, said part of the reason is that land available to build on is becoming scarce.

“The availability of land is getting difficult to obtain,” he said.

As a result, he said, builders are building more multi-dwelling structures on smaller plots of land.

“We’re actually issuing more permits for townhouses and condos,” McClead said. “Builders get more for their buck.”

What do you all think? Is the land just gone in the city? We always are wondering just how many 700K homes they can build in the area? Share your opinion below!