Decatur is Really Square
The Decatur Square is on its way back. For two years, the city and MARTA cut the square in two in order to renovate and improve access across downtown Decatur. They’re not done yet, but the key half of the square is again accessible.
The space is improved; there are now about 10 torch columns which keep the space illuminated and tiles over the station have grooves which make illustrations. Still one would have hoped for more.
The reconstruction made a huge impact. Stores and shops on the south side of the square really suffered. Sage stopped serving lunch. Other restaurants cut their hours back and the ability to serve people al fresco was severely diminished. The process took over two years and went over budget. They used Chinese marble rather than Georgia stone. They sealed several sections before inspectors could check them out. Given what the merchants suffered, these mistakes are horrid.
The changes, however, are more aesthetic than practical. While improving the beauty of public spaces is a very worthwhile goal, adding practical improvements would have made a bigger difference. One improvement is a wheelchair ramp, but other than the lighting, that’s about it. Adding another stage, or at least the pre-production electrics, DMX patches, and anchors would have been great. Swings would have been fantastic.
Yet even with improvements they did make there was another cost. The Decatur station used to have sky lights. Now they are gone. Natural light helped make the station work. Lighting the station will cost more for lower quality light.
Hopefully, the results will pay off. It would be great if more people came on the train for a night in Decatur and if that traffic moved MARTA to keep the Bankhead line running to Decatur all night. A new restaurant, Pasta Please has opened and Sage will soon resume its lunch plans.
Whether the improvements will make a difference you’ll have to judge for yourself. The city certainly needs to make sure they finish everything else on budget and on time for a while.
March 1st, 2007 at 10:08 am
Actually, the original contract with the private contractor called for February completion.
And don’t overloook the delays caused by MARTA.
March 1st, 2007 at 11:23 am
Teashook,
What were the delays caused by MARTA?
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:06 am
There weren’t any. The city was in control of the project but you’re not cool if you don’t bash MARTA.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:52 pm
In answer to your question Amber, the City of Decatur also had an intergovernmental agreement with MARTA because much of the work involved replacing skylight panels in the station. After construction began, townhome owners on Sycamore claimed that damages were being caused by an increase in vibrations from the trains, possibly linked to a shift in air flow in the tunnel that could be related to the construction. MARTA studied the vibrations but then didn’t hand over the results to the townhome dwellers for months despite repeated requests. The owners had to appeal to the city council to intercede with MARTA. Perhaps I’m wrong in claiming this directly delayed the project completion, but it certainly didn’t help. In any event, I like MARTA fine. Considering it is the mass transit system in the country that receives the least amount of state funds, I think it is amazing they can operate at all. I’m just tired of hearing people bash the city. Decatur has probably done one of the finest jobs in metro Atlanta with planning and development to turn the MARTA station into an asset. The real problem with transit and pedestrian friendliness is not that the City of Decatur’s project ran a few months longer than folks expected, but that fewer communities have done similar projects.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Right. If by “least amount” you mean “none.”