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closeThe first round of grants have been decided in the College Hill Corridor section of Macon, and they’ll fund a diverse series of programs from zoning regulation overhauls and Sunday brunches to new tree plantings and compost education programs.
They grants also will help Mercer University start up a bicycle rental program — one of several grant-funded programs geared toward getting people out and about in the area.
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College Hill Corridor grants
Macon Arts Alliance: $750 to add art projects to the ongoing 2nd Sunday brunch program
Heather B. Cutway: $800 to plant trees in area yards
Mercer Geocaching Club: $1,100 for a GPS drive scavenger hunt program.
College Hill Alliance: $1,200 for a monthly dinner program.
Macon Film and Video Festival: $1,500 for festival workshops.
College Hill Alliance: $2,200 to continue outdoor movie nights in the area.
Heather B. Cutway: $2,200 to teach a composting workshop.
Centenary United Methodist Church: $2,800 to expand a community garden.
Facade Squad: $3,500 to cut grass in the area.
Historic Macon Foundation: $5,000 for a “green field day” to teach people about energy efficiency.
Crossroads Writers Conference: $6,500 for a regional writer’s conference and festival.
City of Macon: $8,000 to purchase a portable stage for area events.
College Hill Alliance: $9,000 to continue the annual soap box derby.
Museum of Arts and Sciences: $10,000 to hold a spring break day camp at Tattnall Square Park.
Tubman Museum: $15,000 to help fund the annual Pan African Festival.
Macon Arts Alliance: $15,000 to create a trail of fiberglass bears (the Mercer mascot) painted by local artists.
College Hill Alliance: $18,000 to fund the monthly 2nd Sunday brunch, which includes free concerts.
Macon-Bibb County Parks & Recreation: $25,000 to pay a forester consultant to help strengthen existing tree ordinances.
Historic Macon Foundation: $30,000 to create living history maps.
Historic Macon Foundation: $31,250 to create a tree nursery for the area.
Mercer University Students for Environmental Action: $40,000 to buy orange bicycles for a bicycle rental program.
Intown Macon Neighborhood Association: $53,700 for the “Lights on College” walking tour of historic homes.
Historic Macon Foundation: $70,000 to launch a facade loan program to improve the appearance of area buildings.
Macon-Bibb Planning & Zoning Commission: $100,000 to hire a consultant to develop new building codes and zoning guidelines for the area.
The grants, provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and funneled through The Community Foundation of Central Georgia, will total about $450,000 in this first round, organizers announced Monday. Nearly 50 groups applied for the money, and 24 were selected.
The Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning Commission will get the largest grant, $100,000, to hire a consultant to draft new design guidelines for the area.
Smaller grants will be used to fund and expand existing programs, such as the Second Sunday brunch program and a fledgling soap box derby race, and begin new ones, such as the bicycle rental program and a series of large fiberglass bears that will be painted by local artists and placed around the corridor.
There’s a grant to plant trees in the area, another to teach people about composting, one to support a community garden in the area, one to host a regional writers conference and one to create new “living history” maps in the area.
“I think the diversity is what’s so exciting,” said Macon Mayor Robert Reichert, who attended Monday morning’s grant announcements.
“You’ve got everything from organic gardening and composting to art and infrastructure.”
The College Hill Corridor group focuses on improving Macon between Mercer and downtown, tying the two areas together while preserving the historic character in both places. Earlier this year the group got a $5 million grant from the Knight Foundation, and there will be more outlays in the coming months and years for projects in the area.
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