Centerville buys eight acres for new proposed downtown district

CENTERVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Centerville city leaders put down the first steps in making a downtown district in the city.

In this small town of about 7,000 people and 22 square miles, there’s something big in the works.

“What would be cool is bringing the kids and the family to the park or walking a trail if they have trails and just have a place to gather,” Matthew Schallmo, the worship pastor at First Baptist Church in Centerville, says.

The church is at stone’s throw away from where the city is looking to create a ‘downtown’ area.

“There’s not really a place to gather here in Centerville other than churches, schools, or your backyard. So it would be good for the community to get together,” says Schallmo.

This month, Mayor John Harley and council voted to purchase land in the heart of the city.

“We have a consultant come in and tell us how to make our dream a reality,” Harley says while referring to the city’s attorney.

He says it’s a project the city has worked on since he took office and it’s time to start creating a vision.

The land is behind the First Baptist Church parking lot and cemetery. Harley wants something the taxpayers can take pride in.

“We hope that people come in and say ‘oh gosh what a great opportunity based on our downtown area,” Harley says.

There’s about $100,000 set aside for the project. The mayor says it’s still early, but he wants something for residents in the city, especially since a majority of them travel to other ones for work.

“We’re the middle of communities. So we’re not trying to compete with any of them, we just want to be part of it,” says Harley.

A neighboring city, with a neighboring mindset, and the community wants to make that happen.

“It’d be a really great environment to meet other people in the neighborhood and really just live life outside. So we’re really excited about what’s happening here next to us,” Schallmo says.

Mayor Harley says they’re modeling their downtown plan after the plans in Senoia and Suwanee. City leaders are meeting with a consultant to develop a request for proposal and talk about a five year plan on what will actually go in the downtown area.