Seeing visions, Archway plan is a call to action

Published 12:08 pm Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The community has spoken. Now, it’s time for its members to act.

That was the message Tuesday night at Dalton High School as the Dalton-Whitfield Archway Partnership Executive Committee and Young Professionals Steering Committee unveiled a vision for the future.

That vision was developed by more than 1,000 members of the community, according to Rick Hooper, chairman of Archway’s executive committee. Those people took part in a massive “listening session” in August 2009, in 23 focus groups and in dozens of one-on-one interviews, telling the Archway partnership what they want to see in Whitfield County.

The Archway Partnership is an outreach program of the University of Georgia that sends the college’s resources into communities throughout the state to help those communities develop a vision for the future and find the tools they need to implement those visions. It began as a two-year pilot program in 2005 but has since expanded to serve eight counties.

Dalton-Whitfield Archway executive committee members presented a vision for this area Tuesday and asked for help implementing it.

“Tonight is the end of the beginning. It marks the end of Phase 1, and the start of Phase 2, and the success of Phase 2 is up to you,” Hooper told about 300 community members.

The vision is divided into three areas: education, the economy and the environment.

The vision for education calls for building Dalton State College into a premier four-year institution and integrating high school, career education and higher education.

In fact, Dalton Public Schools Superintendent Jim Hawkins said the vision goes beyond even that to what he called a “birth to work” model where the school systems, social agencies and families would work together to prepare children for the future.

When it comes to the economy, the vision calls for finding ways to sustain existing industries and companies.

“Our community is the world leader in floorcovering,” said Dalton Utilities President and CEO Don Cope.

But Cope said the vision also calls for nurturing entrepreneurs who can create new companies, bringing in new firms and industries to diversify the local economy and building on the “green” initiatives that have already been undertaken locally, such as Dalton Utilities’ efforts to produce biodiesel from algae at its land application system wastewater treatment facility.

William Bronson, publisher of The Daily Citizen, said the environmental vision also calls for making the city greener, with more parks and recreation areas and biking and hiking trails to link them. But he said it goes beyond that to encompass all quality-of-life issues, such as the arts and transportation.

He said the group would like to see the city move on a plan to create a median on Crawford Street and turn it into a walking mall as quickly as possible.

Melissa Lu, Dalton’s Archway professional, said those interested in finding out more about these plans and those interested in volunteering to help implement them can learn more at www.daltonwhitfieldcommunityvision.com, or they can contact her at mdlu@uga.edu.