The Golden Triangle Development Link has agreed to partner with a committee exploring economic development potential for city property on the Island.
Committee member and former director of federal programs for Columbus George Irby confirmed the committee met with Link officials for the first time Wednesday before holding a brief open meeting. It was then that Irby was named chair and city planner Christina Berry co-chair of the group.
“(The Link’s) role has not been defined yet,” Irby said. “We won’t get into deep discussion until next year.”
The committee is made up of several city and county officials, including supervisors Leroy Brooks and Jeff Smith, councilmen Gene Taylor and Kabir Karriem, Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority Director Roger Short as well as local businessman and developer Tony Carley, who owns property on the Island.
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith has also attended the last two meetings and said today a survey recently conducted by the city’s engineering consulting firm found the property the county transferred the city last month is about 5.7 acres. He said city crews should be done clearing out that land of overgrowth next week.
Brooks said it will likely be January before the committee holds any more formal meetings, but it will be in communication with the Link between now and then.
Brenda Lathan, Link vice president of economic development for Lowndes County, said the two parties will soon hold a brainstorming session on options that could be pursued.
“There are some real possibilities, but we are not ready to discuss what we think those possibilities are,” Lathan said. “We have to look at them closely and make a determination of what would be feasible and what would not be.”
Several ideas had been tossed around in previous meetings, including an amusement park. Carley said he and a former business partner once hoped to build condominiums on property they acquired near the Tombigbee River waterfront six years ago. Carley now owns the property himself and said he still hopes to see revitalization on the property west of the river.
Smith said his idea was to construct a park on the west side of the Old Highway 82 bridge but was open to input from the committee and general public.
Brooks said he’d been speaking with residents and noticed a growing interest in the area’s potential.
“With that property being cleaned, peoples’ eyes are perking up,” Brooks said. “I think you’re going to see a better interest than we anticipated in terms of what’s over there.”
City and county officials celebrated the completion of the bridge’s $2.2 million restoration last month.
The committee has met sporadically since July with the mission of developing a family-friendly attraction utilizing Island property and adding an extra attraction to complement the bridge, Riverwalk and Columbus Soccer Complex.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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