This photo by Richard Calmes is what you'll see when you go to download the Suwanee SculpTour podcast on iTunes.

Audio tour guides Annette Phelps and Dick Goodman.

SculpTour podcast now available on iTunes

A guided audio tour/podcast of the Suwanee SculpTour exhibit is now available for download on iTunes. The approximately 32-minute podcast – which provides information about the 15 sculptures in the exhibit and some of the City's permanent public art pieces as well as insights from participating artists – is designed to be listened to while walking through the exhibit. With pauses, the guided tour will take approximately an hour to complete.

City Councilmember and Public Arts Commission Chair Dick Goodman and City of Suwanee Receptionist Annette Phelps serve as tour guides, providing directions and light-hearted commentary. Most of the participating artists offer information about their sculpture and the creative process.

To download the podcast, visit iTunes and search "Suwanee SculpTour." Click on the "Guide to 2011 Suwanee SculpTour" link to download. The audio tour also may be downloaded here.

The 2011 Suwanee SculpTour, which opened last May, will run through the end of March. The exhibit includes 15 sculptures of varying sizes, styles, and materials in and around downtown Suwanee. The exhibit is funded entirely through corporate and private donations; 2011 sponsors include Georgia Natural Gas, the Law Offices of Richard Yoon, Peoples Bank & Trust, Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Ippolito's Italian Restaurant. The "Guide to 2011 Suwanee SculpTour" podcast was made possible through a grant from the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau. Remember to vote for your favorite sculpture.

Click on the image to enlarge a picture.

City receives grant to reconstruct Buford Highway
as context-sensitive, multimodal roadway

The City of Suwanee will implement a nearly $3.3 million Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) grant, received through the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), to reconstruct a portion of Buford Highway as a context-sensitive roadway that will safely accommodate multiple modes of transportation and help connect residents and visitors to a variety of activity centers.

Rather than simply widening Buford Highway, as many communities seem interested in doing, Suwanee's plans call for the thoroughfare to remain a two-lane road with the addition of sidewalks, multiuse trails, landscaped medians, additional streetscaping, operational improvements such as turn lanes, and a potential roundabout in order to accommodate additional modes of transportation, calm existing traffic, encourage Town Center-like development, and provide safer pedestrian access.

"We're not rebuilding the entire roadway itself," says Planning Division Director Matthew Dickison. "Rather, we're adding elements that will make Buford Highway context-sensitive to its surrounding areas and help facilitate quality future development. This project is a key element in the City's commitment to connecting different parts of downtown."

The City's initial step will be to conduct a scoping study that will provide more detailed estimates related to the project's feasibility, cost, and timeline. That study will be initiated by February. Construction is anticipated to begin sometime in 2013 with completion expected about two years later. More information.

Construction of police substation set to get underway

Suwanee City Council has approved a contract with Hogan Construction Group of Norcross for construction of a new 7,100-square-foot police substation and training facility at 2996 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in the Suwanee Gateway area. Work is expected to begin on the substation by the end of December or early January.

Construction was approved at a maximum cost of a little more than $1.6 million; the anticipated total project cost is approximately $1.99 million. The project is funded primarily through SPLOST funds.

Designed by Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates, the facility will provide an enhanced police presence in the Suwanee Gateway and provide class space for regional police training and indoor firearms practice. A one-story facility, the building features clean lines in brick and a lofty, glazed entrance.

"Placing a police substation in the heavily commercial, heavily traveled Suwanee Gateway area serves several purposes," says City Manager Marty Allen. "Most importantly, it serves an operational need to provide ongoing training opportunities for our police personnel, reducing the need for them to travel to other jurisdictions for such training."

Construction is expected to require approximately eight months.

DDA sells Pierce's Corner

Suwanee's Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has sold one of the oldest commercial buildings along Main Street to a business focused on constructing, remodeling, and retrofitting buildings using green practices in order to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

Deming LLC has acquired a 50-year lease-purchase on the approximately 6,000-square-foot, two-story Pierce's Corner building, which was constructed in 1910. Late last year, the DDA issued a request for proposals for Pierce's Corner that would serve as a catalyst for future growth and vitality in historic Old Town. The Deming proposal was one of 11 received earlier this year through that process.

Deming has agreed to a lease-to-purchase price of $258,640, financed through a 3.5 percent interest rate paid in monthly installments of $1,161.41 (beginning in year three of the agreement). Deming has the right to purchase the building within the first 22 years of the agreement.

"We sought a unique proposition that would spur creative ideas and ultimately enhance the economic viability of Old Town and the City as a whole," notes Downtown and Business Development Manager Alison Starnes. "The Deming proposal certainly fits that bill, and we're very excited to welcome this green-focused business to Pierce's Corner."

As part of its three-phase plan, Deming will first remodel the main Pierce's Corner building. Design for renovations is anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2012 and will include techniques designed to achieve LEED certification. More information.

Photo by David Douglas

Greenway section closed for 'makeover'

The oldest section of the Suwanee Creek Greenway, from Martin Farm Road to Suwanee Elementary School, will be closed in two phases over a seven-month or more period so that the City of Suwanee, through its contractor Georgia Development Partners, can rehabilitate and upgrade the approximately one-mile section of multiuse trail. 

Work has already begun on the first phase, from the Town Center connector at Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road to Martin Farm Road. Work on this phase will require 3-4 months, depending on weather conditions. When work on the first section is complete, rehabilitation will begin on the second phase, from the Town Center connector/ Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road to Suwanee Elementary, and that section also will be closed for 3-4 months, again depending on the weather.

With the possible exception of a few days between phases, the City plans to keep access to the Greenway open from the Town Center connector in one direction or the other.

This older section of Suwanee's popular, four-mile multiuse path was installed in the 1990s. Existing asphalt and boardwalk will be demolished, and new concrete and boardwalk will be installed at widths that match the newer sections of the Greenway. In addition, changes are being made to minimize as much as possible the impact of flooding along this section. For example, where possible, the trail will be moved to higher ground (6-18 inches higher) so that floodwaters will recede from the trail surface first.

Crime data now available online

Citizens can now access City of Suwanee crime data online. This web-based service will allow residents to view data by location, type of crime, and date. The permanent "Crime Data" link to will be available on the City & Other Services/Police page of this website.

This new online service will provide basic information about criminal and traffic incidents around the City of Suwanee. Citizens, insurance companies, and others may still request formal incident reports from the police department's records division; each report is $3.

The online service is free to citizens. "This service will show citizens what's going on where in the community," says Lt. Dan Clark, adding that information is presented via symbols that appear on a Google map of the City. "This site also gives the police department a whole lot more crime analysis capabilities."

Using the website, citizens also may submit tips, view trends, and set up alerts and updates.

Suwanee installs sharrows

The City of Suwanee has installed nearly 5 miles of sharrows – street markings that remind motorists to share the roadway with bicycles – as part of implementation of its 2011 Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan. The sharrows – identified by a bicycle symbol with a double arrow above – are intended to improve the safety relationship between cyclists and drivers.

Research has shown, says Suwanee's Director of Planning Josh Campbell, that these markings make cyclists more comfortable in their portion of the roadway and encourage drivers to give cyclists more space. However, unlike bicycle lanes, sharrows do not designate part of the road exclusively for cyclists.

"Sharrows," Campbell says, "don't create any additional rights for bikers nor diminish rights or responsibilities for drivers. They simply create an awareness to share the road."

The sharrow-marked routes in Suwanee include Eva Kennedy, Main Street, Martin Farm Road, Russell Road, Scales Road, and Station Center Boulevard.

"Suwanee wants to encourage alternative forms of transportation," says Campbell, who recreationally bikes 80 miles each week. "Sharrows give bikers the assurance that they're allowed to use those roads as well."

Gwinco Blvd. becomes Celebration Drive

As part of the now completed Georgia Department of Transportation project to extend McGinnis Ferry Road 2.7 miles from Satellite Boulevard, across I-85, to Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road, the City of Suwanee has renamed Gwinco Boulevard. The road's new name is Celebration Drive.

"The City has for several years had a vision for this particular section of the Suwanee Gateway to serve as a hospitality hub," says Special Projects Coordinator Toni Shrewsbury. "A component of our plans called for changing the road's name. This seemed like an opportune time to do so with the conclusion of this significant road project that's really improving traffic flow and safety in the area."

A new road, Celebration Connector, links Celebration Drive to Old Peachtree Road.

Several hotels and restaurants are located on Celebration Drive. For safety reasons, access to and from Celebration Drive at both ends is limited to right-in and right-out only.

Those traveling east on Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road or west on McGinnis Ferry may access these businesses by turning right onto Celebration Drive; those driving west on Lawrenceville-Suwanee or east on McGinnis Ferry access the businesses via Old Peachtree Road and Celebration Connector.

Photo by David Douglas

Fitch upgrades City's bond rating to AA+

The City of Suwanee's general obligation bond rating has been raised three times over the past 17 months. Most recently, Fitch Ratings upgraded the City's rating on its general obligation and revenue bonds to AA+ from AA.

Last year, in a recalibration, Fitch raised Suwanee's rating from AA- to AA. In April, Standard and Poor's upgraded Suwanee's general obligation rating from AA- to AA based on the City's historically strong financial position and solid economic foundation.

Fitch Ratings issued the upgrade to AA+  in September following a routine review. The financial ratings company based the upgrade on "the [C]ity's very strong financial profile, marked by the consistency of operating results and maintenance of robust reserves and liquidity over a prolonged period of time."

"To say that we're excited about this would be a huge understatement," says Suwanee Mayor Dave Williams. "That two separate, independent, and well-respected financial rating companies have upgraded the City of Suwanee's bond rating in these financially turbulent times says a lot about our fiscal policies and practices.

"Keep in mind, too, that Suwanee has actually lowered the property tax rate each of the past two years," Williams adds. "So, yes, we take this upgrade as validation that we're doing things right financially and being good stewards of our taxpayers' money." See the press release.