Published Saturday, July 05, 2008

Two towns court college

The Times-Herald

It is no secret that Atlanta Christian College has narrowed its search for a new campus to two cities -- Peachtree City and Newnan -- and both cities are working diligently behind the scenes to land the deal.

ACC, which has operated continuously since 1937 on its current campus on Ben Hill Road in East Point, was originally expected to make a decision sometime this summer. Now the process is pushing into the fall.

Atlanta Christian College currently enrolls 400 students and employs 15 full-time faculty members and 47 part-time and adjunct faculty members but projects an enrollment of 1,200 by the year 2012 as part of its strategic growth plan.

Copies of both proposals have been obtained by The Times-Herald, and both cities continue to meet to weigh in on progress being made to meet the ACC's target growth objectives.

Newnan's proposal, a copy of which was provided by City Attorney Brad Sears, hinges on the city's ability to provide Atlanta Christian College with move-in ready facilities, utilizing "historic structures in downtown Newnan, namely the existing historical Newnan Lofts," which is located on East Washington Street and consists of 170,000 square feet of space.

According to the city's proposal, "Newnan Lofts features 248 parking spaces and 145 unfurnished rental units large enough to accommodate multiple students, as well as space for large assembly rooms which might be utilized as a library, campus life center, or student gathering spaces."

Also located on the Newnan Lofts site is an additional new structure of approximately 14,000 square feet, "7,000 square feet of which can be furnished to the College's specifications," according to the Newnan proposal, which indicates that this space would be ideal for "academic/classroom support, lecture rooms and classrooms."

According to the proposal, the Newnan Lofts site consists of 13 acres, "of which approximately six acres are undeveloped" and would provide Atlanta Christian College with "expansion space for indoor athletic and maintenance/support facilities."

Frontage property, adjacent to the Newnan Lofts and owned by another entity, "might possibly be available for purchase," according to the proposal and, if combined with other adjoining properties, could "create a campus large enough to accommodate considerable student expansion."

The Newnan proposal also addresses the possible acquisition of other desirable properties in the area in the next two to five years. Newnan's Downtown Development Authority can "facilitate contact with the owner of Newnan Lofts for a possible lease/purchase of the property," according to the proposal.

Newnan's proposal also empowers the authority to work with Coweta County to facilitate use of the Temple Avenue Recreation Center, the Wood-Clay Community Center, and the Lynch Park Center to help accommodate ACC's athletic programs.

Other facilities touted in the Newnan proposal, to which ACC would have access, are the Wadsworth Auditorium, which has been newly renovated and offers "a state of the art performance venue," the African-American Alliance Museum and surrounding city-owned property for outdoor events, and even the C. Jay Smith Park, which is city owned but is currently being operated by the county under a contract between the city and county.

"The Newnan Depot, located across the street from the Newnan Lofts site, offers a unique and historic venue for special gatherings and can be made available for use by Atlanta Christian College through the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society."

The authority is also interested in discussing the development of the site known as the Hannah Homes property as a possible university center, to be fashioned along the lines of "The University Center in Greenville, South Carolina," which would enable the college to meet its adult education program goals. The authority envisions a "synergistic relationship between both new and existing programs" currently offered by existing educational institutions located in the county.

The Newnan proposal would allow ACC to immediately double its housing opportunities for its students, 60 percent of whom are already being housed on the college's existing campus in East Point. The authority believes its proposal would allow ACC to meet its goal of holding classes in Newnan by 2009 by eliminating the "time and expense of building new campus facilities while allowing it to emphasize and market the positives of the Newnan community."

The Downtown Development Authority and the Development Authority of the City of Newnan are "capable of issuing certain types of both taxable and tax exempt financing to assist in the college's effort in the acquisition of facilities," according to the proposal.

Peachtree City's proposal focuses on site location, recognizing that Atlanta Christian College needs a location that is visible, easy to find, and provides room for growth and expansion over time. Peachtree City is looking at property west of Highway 74 in the proposed Wilksmore Village area.

At the June 26 Atlanta Christian College task force meeting, representatives from Brent Scarbrough and Company, present on behalf of land owned by the Scarbrough family and John Wieland properties, both large landholders in the proposed Wilksmore Village area, discussed the possibility of land swaps and other concessions that might enable the city to amass the targeted 50 acres to support the ACC proposal.

According to the Peachtree City proposal, John Wieland Homes has set aside acreage at the northeast corner of Wilksmoor that could be used for a public school site, commercial area or "office and institutional" uses.

Since the land has not been utilized by the Fayette County School System, and will revert back to Wieland if unused by spring of 2009, the Peachtree City plan proposes the use of that land for the college. Peachtree City proposes to share the existing city recreation facilities, including the soccer fields, baseball fields and aquatic center, which would be scheduled to allow little impact to the community, which predominantly uses the fields at night and on the weekends.

Various community leaders have offered support for ACC to come to Peachtree City and are willing to allocate resources based on meetings with the college, including the Fayette County Board of Education and the Fayette County Development Authority.

"Peachtree City has agreed to provide the college with $25,000 in relocation assistance" and is willing to "contract with a grant writer to secure potential grant funding for the college as well," according to the proposal.

The Peachtree City proposal addresses the need for temporary space while new campus buildings are constructed. According to the proposal, "many churches have shown an interest" in supporting ACC during the relocation stage.

Peachtree City will appoint an ombudsman to "walk the project through local permitting requirements."

Much of the work of the recent task force meetings has focused on seamlessly integrating the college into the master plan already proposed for the Wilksmore Village area, which spans an area north of Highway 54 and west of Highway 74, almost to the Tyrone city limits, and will include a variety of residential developments, mixed-use developments, and community amenities that the city believes will be desirable to ACC's administration, trustees, faculty and students. Touting everything from the more than 90 miles of golf cart paths to its state-of-the-art community recreational facilities, Peachtree City believes it offers ACC everything it seeks in terms of relocating its campus.

Within the proposal package are letters of support from Jack Smith, chairman of the Fayette County Board of Commissioners; Harold Logsdon, mayor of Peachtree City; Dr. John D. DeCotis, superintendent of Fayette County Schools; Virginia Gibbs, president of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce; George S. Dillard III, senior minister at Peachtree City Christian Church; and Greg Marksberry, senior pastor of Heritage Christian Church.