If you’ve been on the Marietta Square lately, you’ll notice the new front to the Theatre in the Square. They’ve put a lot of money into the project and I’m guessing it’s complete. What do you all think of the new front to the Theatre in the Square?

Comments? Leave them below!

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The intersection of Church Street and Mill Street on the Marietta Square will be closed March 4-18 for work on a new water main and construction of brick crosswalks.

A counterclockwise circulation of traffic around the Square will be maintained for access to parking and businesses on the Square. All other local traffic will be detoured, and through traffic with a destination outside the Square is encouraged to use North and South Marietta Parkways.

View the detour map here >>

To subscribe to receive transportation updates and city news by email, visit mariettaga.gov/subscribe. For more information contact the city’s Public Works Department at 770-794-5650.

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The students volunteered more than 250 hours of their time at service agencies in the Franklin Road area, including the Franklin Road Boys and Girls Club; Latin American Association; Omosaze reading program; Girl Scouts of America; Cobb Community Collaborative; and the Marietta Youth Empowerment through Learning, Leading and Serving (YELLS) mentorship program, which focuses on youth leadership, community service and academic achievement. In addition, 20 GHC students will participate in the Franklin Road service learning initiative this semester.

“My hope is that they can use their experiences to learn more about communication principles in action, and more importantly, become active and engaged citizens in their community,” Georgia Highlands communication professor and project leader Meredith Ginn said.

“I helped a non-profit organization receive a grant to communicate the importance of participating in the 2010 Census to the community,” nursing major and project participant Sonya Cochran said. “The experience was challenging but incredibly rewarding for everyone involved.”

The Weed and Seed program’s partnership with Georgia Highlands helps expand the concept of community, Weed and Seed coordinator Daneea Badio said. “It’s not just about the residents and businesses on Franklin Road coming together to make a difference,” she said. “It’s about the larger community seeing ourselves as one.”

Weed and Seed is a federal program designed to help communities with serious crime problems bring together people and resources to prevent and control crime and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods. Marietta’s Weed and Seed area encompasses Franklin Road from South Marietta Parkway to the north, Terrell Mill Road to the south, Cobb Parkway to the west and Interstate 75 to the east.
About Georgia Highlands College

Georgia Highlands College, based in Rome, is a two-year institution of the University System of Georgia. More than 5,000 students attend classes at the college’s six campuses in Rome, Cartersville, Marietta, Dallas and Douglasville. More than 1,000 students are enrolled at GHC’s Marietta campus, which opened in 2005.

Redeveloping and revitalizing Franklin Road, and establishing or continuing a collaborative relationship with local centers of higher learning are goals City Council established as part of Marietta’s vision statement.

For more information, call Marietta’s Weed and Seed coordinator Daneea Badio at 770-794-5640.

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With the redesign of WhitlockAvenue.com, we wanted to give everyone an opportunity to participate in our innagural voting of the best Restaurant on the Marietta Square – according to YOU.

We’ve launched voting today (2/26) and the voting will run through April 1, 2010.

Below is the list of the restaurants on the Marietta Square that are up for voting. Please share this post on Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else you’d like so we can get enough data to declare the best Restaurant on the Marietta Square.

Here’s the Poll for Voting the Best Marietta Square Resturant in 2010!

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As a result of Marietta using a different kind of fuel than petroleum in city-owned vehicles the city is able to receive a rebate on the federal taxes that were paid on the alternative fuel.

“Mohammed’s efforts required perseverance and research to meet deadlines for eligibility,” Tumlin said. “As a result of Mohammed’s research, the city will receive a refund of more than $334,000, with the opportunity for continued years of benefit.”

Ennin, who moved to Marietta a year and a half ago, earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting and his master’s degree in public administration from Florida A&M University.

The city of Marietta continues to look for innovative ways to conserve energy, while cutting down on emissions and saving money. Marietta’s Fleet Division began using a biodiesel blend in 90 percent of the city’s diesel vehicles in 2008. The city also has several natural gas vehicles in its fleet.

For more information, call Marietta’s Accounting Division at 770-794-5544.

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January 2010 saw an uptick in the number of home-building permits issued across Cobb County, but builders are still bracing for more foreclosures to flood the market.

There were 64 permits for new single-family homes issued across Cobb in January. The same month a year earlier saw only 27 permits.

Most of the permits, 43, are for unincorporated Cobb. Smyrna had nine; Acworth, eight; Kennesaw, three and Marietta, one. Austell and Powder Springs did not issue any permits in January.

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The improvements are phase two of a project on the middle section of Franklin Road, and when complete upgrades will include landscaped medians, traffic lights, aligning entryways to apartment complexes and shopping centers, landscaping, sidewalks on both sides of the road, and decorative lighting.

The improvements will eliminate motorists going into the middle lane trying to turn and include designated areas where pedestrians should cross the road, city manager Bill Bruton said. “A lot of people are hit in the area, which isn’t good,” he said. “The improvements will be a lot more laid out so people will know where they can cross the street and where they should turn.”

The streetscape enhancements would encourage redevelopment in the area and support business owners and residents who want to go in and put more money into their properties, Bruton said. “They would see the city doing the same.”

The project is funded by a grant awarded through the livable centers initiative (LCI) program, which the ARC established in 2000 to encourage quality design in downtown areas or urban centers, Bruton said. “A lot of the grant money the ARC is able to give communities for projects comes from the federal government to state government.”

In order to participate and have access to the grant money, the city had to be an LCI community and had to go through a competitive process, Bruton said. “Marietta was selected by selected by the ARC and had to do a planning study of the city, which shows how we can improve the city through quality design and traffic enhancements.”

In 2000, Marietta was one of the first 10 communities selected by the ARC to participate in the first round of the program, Bruton said. “The city’s first planning study was called Envision Marietta and involved people from all over the community, trying to figure out what the downtown core should be like and included master plans for the downtown area and what we would do,” he said. “A lot of what we’re doing on Roswell Street and some of what is going forward on Powder Springs Street came from that plan, including zoning changes that we’ve done.”

The ARC approved the plan, which allowed the city to apply for the grant money. “Over a two-year period, we were able to receive $3 million for improvements on Roswell Street,” Bruton said.

“While we were finishing up with that project, as far as planning and applying for the grant, we looked at the Franklin Road/Delk Road area and created a Franklin Road/Delk corridor master plan, which was also approved by the ARC,” Bruton said. “This plan laid out how the Franklin Road/Delk Road area would function and look and was an effort to spur redevelopment in that area of town.” The ARC approved the plan, which allowed the city to be able to apply for funding for the area, he said.

The city didn’t create an LCI plan for Powder Springs Street, Bruton said. “We actually went in and did our own Powder Springs Street master plan with the Marietta Housing Authority, and we both paid for half of the project,” he said. “The ARC approved the plan just this year to have it included as an LCI-eligible project.”

Phase one of the Franklin Road project, which is on the north and south ends of Franklin Road, is funded by the 2005 special purpose local option sales tax voters approved for transportation improvements.

The project is included in the new SPLOST list City Council is currently considering, which should free up some anticipated funds for other projects if that SPLOST goes forward,” Bruton said. “Senior urban planner Kyethea Kirk and city engineer Jim Wilgus did a great job preparing the application.”

“The earliest construction would start on the project would be in late 2012, since the city has just received the funding,” Wilgus said. “The actual start date depends on several issues, which haven’t been addressed yet.”

An efficient transportation system, which places a high premium on the quality of life of Marietta’s citizens; creating landscaped boulevards and gateways; encouraging redevelopment with a mixture of uses, while strengthening viable neighborhoods and commercial areas; continuing quality zoning and development that will benefit generations to come; and working with the Marietta Housing Authority, Cobb Housing Inc. and other agencies to redevelop and revitalize the Franklin Road, Roswell Street, Allgood and Powder Springs Road corridors as well as other areas of Marietta are goals City Council established as part of its vision statement.

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