The Columbus connection
Two cities working together more; Columbus paves the way
BY ERIN SIMPSON
Staff Writer
Posted on Sat, Feb. 26, 2005
For proof that Phenix City's new riverfront plan can work, leaders say all you have to do is look across the Chattahoochee River at the vision -- and money -- that built downtown Columbus.
Since construction began on the Chattahoochee Riverwalk in 1991, the downtown area has prospered with the addition of the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, the TSYS campus, Synovus Centre, loft apartments and the improvements to the Columbus Convention & Trade Center.
Those five projects alone cost more than $200 million, and were a mix of government money, business and private donations.
Phenix City has begun to follow that lead.
The city has planned a $273.5 million riverfront and downtown redevelopment that covers 141 acres from just south of the Dillingham Street Bridge to north of the 14th Street Bridge at Riverview Apartments.
"The next critical stage is where are the dollars coming from?" asked Sammy Howard, chairman of the East Alabama Riverfront Development. "Can we finance this now? We can. It can be done."
Talking money
Howard said the group needs commitments for about $5 million to $10 million, which he expects to come from private donations or business commitments.
The group has run completely off donations since it began in January 2004. The nonprofit paid to hire Atlanta consulting firm The Boulevard Group to come up with the $300,000 Downtown/Riverfront District Plan the city recently adopted.
At the development group's meeting Tuesday, Howard said, "Columbus has funded about 95 percent of what we've done so far. They won't continue to do so."
Howard would not name the contributors, but did say, however, that Columbus' philanthropic giant Bradley-Turner Foundation provided "seed money."
Foundation administrator Tom Black confirmed the foundation had given an anonymous donation to the riverfront group.
Howard and Susan Wiggins, a Phenix City resident and vice-president of investor relations of the W.C. Bradley Company, said there were also investors from the Phenix City side of the river. "This truly is being driven by the Phenix City side," Wiggins said.
Downtown cleanup
When Wiggins first began working for W.C. Bradley, she said her office was next to an adult theater in downtown Columbus and surrounded by a dozen wig shops.
"I have lived and seen the positive changes occur," she said.
In the last 10 years, and mostly on the Columbus side, the cities have spent more than $640 million in development -- including the TSYS campus, $100 million; RiverCenter, $67 million; the trade center expansion, $30 million; Columbus State University downtown campus, $30 million; National Infantry Museum $70 million and Johnston Mill Lofts, $29 million.
Wiggins said the two cities are working together better than ever.
"What's good for one is good for the other," she said. "When you have the momentum, because of everything that has been accomplished in Columbus, it's a positive impact on what we're trying to do." The downtown areas on both sides of the river are going to be an attraction, Wiggins said.
"I keep hearing people saythis concept on One Uptown. That's a very progressive thought because you're talking about two cities and two states," she said. "It is one neighborhood. We have a unique opportunity here. Because of that, the synergy for each side will feed the other."
River connection
The Chattahoochee River binds the two cities, especially with the plans for upcoming whitewater activities. "I would like to think that the river project has been a reason to come together," said John Turner, chairman of the Riverfront Committee of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and Bradley-Turner foundation board member. "We are taking a regional perspective. That's only logical. The boundaries are really only artificial."
The river restoration approval will be added to the approved list of projects by the Savannah office of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Turner said. That doesn't mean funding is imminent, however. All Corps funding goes through Congress, and Turner said the group is working with legislators from Georgia and Alabama to push the project.
"What gives us kind of a high standing is that it is two cities and two states," he said. Turner said the project would take about two years to complete and he envisions whitewater rafting within five years.
"I think that most of us recognize that 20 or 30 years from now we're going to see the downtown areas on both sides of the river as the crown jewel."
Work ahead
It won't be easy. Most leaders estimate the full plan for Phenix City won't be complete for at least 10 years.
Wiggins agreed. "I'm not just trying to be a cheerleader. It's hard work. People have to be willing to invest."
The city is looking at a hotel and conference center at the corner of the river and Dillingham Street Bridge, which would then be within walking distance to the Columbus Convention & Trade Center. Ron Smith, CEO of CB&T of Russell County and a riverfront development member, is working with hotel groups to get a commitment.
"The ticket is the public/private partnership," he said at Tuesday's meeting. "We suspect that they're going to come back with proposals and ask us to help them." Local resident Mike Osman was also at the meeting. He is optioning some property on the riverfront that he wants to turn into a multi-story, multi-functional building that would include a restaurant, offices and apartments.
Howard talked about the doubts people in Phenix City have, even when they look at Columbus' success. "The thing that's hard to believe -- can this really happen in Phenix City? Do you really believe this could happen? I do," he said. "It can happen if the ingredients are there, and they are there."
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Contact Erin Simpson at (706) 571-8586 or esimpson@ledger-enquirer.com