Two events in the past week have breathed new life into the long-stalled project to move, renovate and open a museum/visitor’s center in the Tate Depot.
First, the county was notified they can draw from a second $400,000 TE (Transportation Enhancement) reimbursement grant awarded earlier by the federal department of transportation.
With recent changes and confusion at the state DOT, it was feared the TE grants would take a low priority, but the county should have them available when they are ready to begin work according to recent communications with the state.
The second grant means the county has up to $800,000 in spending that can be reimbursed by federal guidelines as long as they follow the TE (Transportation Enhancement) Grant criteria.
The second breakthrough was that Commissioner Rob Jones secured a quit-claim giving the county a clear title to the old depot building which sits in Tate where the railroad tracks cross Highway 53. Jones said the county has owned the building, which is still used by the railroad company for some time, but they needed a quit-claim deed from them to allow work relocating the building.
Project Consultant Tom Eubanks said with these two developments, the county will be able to put the relocation project out for bid in early summer. He thought physical work might begin by fall.
Among the first stages of the project is preparing a new site for the Depot.
Plans call for the building to be moved across Highway 53 to a spot on 6.7 acres of property owned by the county. This property was donated “free and clear” to the county from IMERYS.
The move is needed as an eave of the building hangs within inches of truck traffic on the state route. The county will perform site preparation and grading for the relocation.
Once across the road, the renovation and construction of a small rear wing (for restrooms and for stairs leading to an archive area in a new basement) will be attached to the building. Eubanks said the new wing will not be visible from the front to preserve the historic look of the building.
Commissioner Rob Jones said a best case scenario would see it open in 2011, but he cautioned this is a best case scenario.
He said the county will proceed with spending and reimbursement but would not be able to dedicate the bulk of the $800,000 at one time. “We’ll have a timeline for spending over 18 months or two years,” he said.
He also noted that the county will be watching closely how spending proceeds on the project’s original budget of $1.2 million. He said this is full scale project, parts of may be scaled back or cancelled to cut costs.
“We’ll start with the $800,000 and hopefully get some more grants,” he said. “We can also cut back and revisit some areas.”
Eubanks said he believes there will be private donations to help cover additional costs.
Once completed, the old depot will serve as a welcome center with a museum documenting the marble industry in Georgia. The basement will serve as an archive for volumes of papers and records recovered from the Georgia Marble Company.
Eubanks said there will also be model railroads in the building to show the railroad’s ties to the marble industry. |
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| PHOTO BY DAMON HOWELL |
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