New Macon arena, convention center part of Mayor Lester Miller’s upcoming plans for development

The Macon-Bibb County mayor announced a host of upcoming plans during his 2025 State of the Community speech on Tuesday.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) –Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller says he wants historians to look back on Macon’s bicentennial mark as a time of growth and progress. For this to be possible, he says there’s still a ton of work to do in terms of updating current facilities and bringing in new ones.

“We’re starting to fall behind other communities, and we can’t do that,” Miller said. “Our taxpayers demand it. Because our OLOST is passed, our taxes can stay low and we can continue to provide the services that we do, but only if we keep up with the Joneses as far as these facilities are concerned.” 

Miller says he’ll ask county commissioners next month to approve a $25 million bond for road re-pavement. He says in the next one to two months, he’ll also announce plans for and hire consultants for a new convention center to bring conferences to the city.

“If you haven’t driven by the site at 108 First Street, you need to go ahead and look at that,” Miller said. “That’s the site that we’re talking about. I would expect an announcement to come very soon.” 

In an effort to keep high school state basketball and wrestling championship contests in Macon, Miller says residents can expect to hear soon plans for a new arena that will replace the Macon Coliseum, which he’s hopeful will be made possible by state funding.

“There’s been some challenges recently about GHSA wanting to go to Atlanta,” Miller said. “We need to keep that in Macon. We need our conventions to stay here in Macon; it’s a viable option for everybody in the state.” 

The State of the Community event was hosted by the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce. President and CEO Jessica Walden says the chamber’s number one wish list item for Macon tourism is seeing Ocmulgee Mounds become a national park and preserve.

“We’re going to go from seeing roughly 150 to 160,000 people per year to upwards of a million,” Walden said.  “So, very fast growth and a very big opportunity for businesses to support that.” 

During his speech, Miller made several references to a third term as mayor if state legislatures agree to amend the charter. Walden says the city’s progress in recent years would make that difficult to not support.

“I think you can feel from the momentum today that it would be great to keep the momentum going,” Walden said.

Miller didn’t rule out the possibility of seeking higher office Tuesday as he previously floated the idea of running for governor next fall. But for now, he says the success of Macon-Bibb County is his top priority.

“I’m always going to keep my options open,” Miller said. “But my first and primary responsibility is the mayor of Macon. That’s what I was elected to do and that’s what I’d like to continue to do.”