Downtown university campus a dream come true for Newnan folks
For years many people in Newnan have dreamed of the day when they might see college students walking from the former Newnan Hospital building up Jackson Street to the heart of downtown Newnan to eat or visit the Carnegie Library.That dream now appears almost certain to become a reality — maybe sometime in 2014.
In recent months there has been talk of the old Newnan Hospital building becoming the home of the University of West Georgia’s Newnan Center campus. The growing presence of West Georgia in Newnan has outgrown its facilities in the Shenandoah Industrial Park off Amlajack Boulevard.
That talk and negotiations between the hospital, university, Board of Regents, Newnan City Council, Coweta Commission and others have resulted in a plan to convert the former hospital into the West Georgia Newnan campus.
There are still many hoops to be cleared before classes can be offered at the Jackson Street facility, but we sense the communication and cooperation of all agencies involved will make this happen.
This is a big deal. We are excited about the prospects of having a college campus in downtown Newnan, in a historic building that has been a landmark in this community for more than 85 years.
Many times during the past 15 years, we have written about the need for more college offerings available to Newnan and Coweta residents right here at home. Today our community stands on the threshold of having a smorgasbord of college level choices here at home thanks to the expansion of University of West Georgia, the stand-alone Coweta campus of West Georgia Technical College and growing college programs offered locally by Mercer University and Brewton-Parker College.
All this is great news for our community as we look to improve our work force and compete for more and better jobs right here at home.
