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DeKalb Technical College students are poised to present a draft of a new city-center design to Clarkston City Council on Tuesday. Nine drafting students at DeKalb Tech have been working for the past 5 months on a plan that Clarkston city officials hope will bring new life into the small DeKalb County town.
Clarkston City Council member Emanuel Ransom is disappointed in the current center of town. He laments the lack of banks, ice cream stores and other businesses that would draw people to the city center. He hopes the plan drafted by DeKalb Tech students will revitalize the 127 year old community. “Most of our citizens of about 6500 do not even trade here in Clarkston, so we’re trying to redevelop the whole downtown area to make it a viable, pedestrian friendly, walkable city,” says Ransom. A chance conversation between Councilman Ransom and Dr. Tanya Gorman, DeKalb Tech Vice President of Academic Affairs, earlier this year lead to the collaborative project between Clarkston and DeKalb Tech. “Councilman Ransom provided the vision and the interns took on the task of turning that vision into a reality for the City of Clarkston and its residents,” says Natoshia Anderson, Drafting Intern Director for DeKalb Technical College.
The project includes a lot of green space and walkways. That’s something that Mayor Lee Swaney applauds. “I think it’s great. I think it’s good. I think it will be great for the city of Clarkston.” Swaney says. Speaking of DeKalb Tech the Mayor says, “It’s like a sister city to us; we hold hands.” The project will formally be presented to the Clarkston City Council Tuesday evening, August 4. There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm about the collaborative project. “It is an excellent partnership, because not only are they going to get academic credit, it’s probably going to be a future job opportunity for them,” Ransom says. What started out as a sleepy railroad town more than a century ago has evolved into a bedroom community with little more to draw you to downtown than car repair shops and abandon buildings. But thanks to DeKalb Tech Drafting interns a new, bright, revitalized future may be in the offing for the City of Clarkston. “I’m excited for them. I’m excited for our program, and I’m excited for the City of Clarkston,” says Natoshia Anderson.
DeKalb Technical College, a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, promotes a student-centered environment for lifelong learning and development, encompassing academic and technical education for employment in a global community. The college has 8 centers of learning in DeKalb, Newton, Rockdale, and Morgan counties. Established in 1961, DeKalb Technical College currently has more than 4,000 students enrolled in diploma or degree programs and more than 9,000 in adult education classes. Academic and Technical programs at DeKalb Tech cover more than 100 different occupations. For more information visit our website at www.dekalbtech.edu.
Top Photo: Front row: Councilman Emanuel Ransom, Mayor Lee Swaney. Back row: DeKalb Tech Drafting Students, Orleesa Jones, Kiell Anderssen, Ivy Hardman, Avel Lueng, Earnest Bigsby
Bottom Photo: City Center Revitalization Plans
