Gainesville City Council members learned Thursday morning that the city is the recipient of a $50,000 grant that can be used to enhance green spaces on the streets that encircle Gainesville's downtown area.
Special Projects Manager Jessica Tullar told Council at a work session that the city had been awarded the Environmental Solutions for Communities Grant from Wells Fargo and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. Gainesville partnered with the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute in making the grant application late last year.
"As part of the Downtown Master Plan, one of the ideas that came up was that connectivity was a really big concern. We talked about how we have this great downtown and we've got all these great assets around it - Brenau, the hospital, midtown - but we can't get across this moat," said Tullar, referencing the streets that separate the downtown Gainesville area from other parts of the city.
"Crossing the Moat" became an action item on the master plan, and Tullar said that's what prompted her office to go after the grant.
While the $50,000 - along with $25,000 from the Council Contingency Fund - will not fund "greening" for the entire perimeter, it will be a start, according to Tullar.
"We feel that we're going to be most successful and on a quicker timeline if we focus on Academy Street," said Tullar.
She showed council members a conceptual diagram of the streetscape, noting that the idea is to make the area greener without impeding the flow of traffic.
"We didn't take away any access points, we're not taking away any right-of-way or any land from anybody," Tullar said.
After the work session, Tullar said it would take close to a year for any physical work to begin on the project.
"We're hoping to have a kickoff with UGA in September after we get through the paperwork and execute the grant agreement...I'm hopeful we can put the shovel in the ground maybe a year from now," Tullar said.
Tullar also said some private citizens had expressed interest in helping fund the planting of trees and other greenery.
The Gainesville City Council will vote to formally accept the grant at its voting session Tuesday, August 2 at 5:30 p.m. at the Gainesville Public Safety Building on Queen City Parkway.
