Retired Atlanta businessman Charles B. Rice returns to revitalize his hometown:
After selling his international security firm, Charles Rice returned home to Blakely for a visit and saw the land of his youth in a state of disrepair. He came up with the idea to preserve the natural resources, culture and history of the community while laying the groundwork for its future.Next weekend, the town of Blakely will host the second annual Jokara-Micheaux Film Festival. (Warning, browser resize. Don't you hate it when websites do that?)Rice poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into his vision, bringing in the Miami-based PlaceMakers firm to come up with a plan of attack. In April and May of 2006 a team of architects, town planners, engineers, lawyers, economic specialists, artists and facilitators from around the globe came to the community to draft their plan.
“They didn’t just call on the town leaders; they got everyone in the community involved,” said Boston-based Celia Doremus, marketing and communications director for EC 2055. “The planning charrette they held allowed everyone in the community an opportunity to come in and have input.”
PlaceMakers unveiled a plan that calls for, among other things, restoration of the Blakely Court Square; an urban green area downtown; a new housing, retail and equestrian center; community gateways; revitalization of the Arlington, Damascus and Jakin communities; and the development of a new town in the county that will provide primary and secondary housing, an 18-hole golf course and trails along the Chattahoochee River.
Comments (1)
It looks like a great community planning thing, with culture and whatnot, but I'm missing the economics.
Does anyone know if there is anything but tourism dollars in the plan? My original small town had some light industry in the area (fabricating add-ons to major logging gear) that provided some decent jobs without fouling the local area. But the main point is that it was locally owned and operated, so it is worth considering trying to help jumpstart small supplier companies like this in smaller towns.
All in all though, I think it is great to have country boys that make it big in the bright and shiny city go back and try and re-invest there.