Business View Civil Municipal - Sept 2023

56 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 walking and cycling opportunities. He points out that Fitzgerald, rather like Savannah, was designed as a city of squares. “Main Street and Central, which are the two main arteries north, south, east and west, have median parks in between the opposing lanes,” he says, “and those parks were intended for leisure and walkability when they were landscaped and planned in the 1930s. They had fallen somewhat into disrepair, and different administrations over the years had done different things with them.” As with most small cities in Georgia, Fitzgerald’s downtown area is a big local focus. Holt cites boutiques, stores, coffee shops, and more. A revitalization plan is in place to improve the downtown and make it even better. The City of Fitzgerald is working in collaborative efforts with the development authority to improve things by repurposing blighted properties. Many downtown locations have ceased functioning as retail stores and have since become used simply for storage, as Holt reveals. “The people that own them now are not shopkeepers,” he says, “and they just don’t have a plan. One of our focuses is: ‘Can we find somewhere else to store your treasures, and let us have that building to put something in it and be productive?’ We’re kicking that off and having some success.” Resurgence of Industrial Growth For a community of its size, Fitzgerald punches well above its weight as an industrial hot bed. According to Dunn, recent growth from Golden Boy Foods, Modern Dispersions, Mana Nutrition, West Fraser Lumber Company, Millex, and Polar Beverages total nearly a quarter-billion dollars in expected capital investment to be made in the community. This growth has brought on significant growth in the county’s GDP, reduced unemployment by 50%, and brought with it an increase in personal income growth. What does the mean for the community? Dunn says the growth has pushed us to make multi-