University, college need local support for new campuses
Ever since Newnan Hospital moved from its location on Jackson Street to Hospital Road, there has been much talk and speculation about the fate of the Jackson Street property near downtown Newnan.Much of the talk has been about using the property for a college or university campus. Local people have envisioned college students on a Jackson Street campus and walking up Jackson to the downtown Court Square area.
For years, the talk has been just that — talk. But in recent months there have been rather quiet talks, planning and actions to make this happen. Now it appears if funding issues can be addressed, the Jackson Street property may become the new Newnan campus of the University of West Georgia, which is overflowing at its current local campus in the Shenandoah Industrial Park.
University and local officials have been exploring this project with hints that an announcement would be forthcoming. Tuesday night, Jon Anderson, deputy provost of the university, appeared before the Coweta County Commission seeking commissioners’ blessings for the project along with the county’s financial support.
Through the years we have written about the need for more college level education offerings in our community. University of West Georgia has long been the college with a local presence here. We are delighted to see the university’s commitment to expanding in our growing community. We, too, are delighted that West Georgia Tech committed to building a Coweta campus. After all, Coweta is the largest county in the college’s service area.
We hope our city government and county government can work together with university, college and other officials to support these projects and make them a reality in our county. It’s for the good of the citizens of this area who deserve higher education offerings right here at home.
