What do residents want in the community of the future? Organizers want to know

A map of numbered dots on street corners and homes represent memories and dreams.

Jason Thomley collected cards and stickers from members of his sons’ soccer team and placed them on the large map of east Macon.

The cards on a nearby table prompted attendees at a three-day east Macon Celebration community engagement event to write about the past, present and future of the neighborhood.

“Please tell us what’d you like to see in the neighborhood in the future. Think about everything that can make a place special from sidewalks, parks and kinds of housing, to jobs safety events and people. What is your dream for this place,” one of the cards read.

Thomley, a pastor at nearby Redeeming Hope Center was one of the community leaders, consultants and residents present to celebrate, swap stories and shape the future of Mill Hill.

The Macon Arts Alliance and Mill Hill: East Macon Arts Village are hosting the event — which runs through Saturday — that includes free interactive events designed to engage the community.

“We’re engaging the community to create a plan to see what kind of cultural offerings they want, what the challenges are, what are the great things and what are the areas in the neighborhood that need work,” said J.R. Olive, project director at Mill Hill: East Macon Arts Village. “A part of that plan is to make sure we’re understanding where the neighborhood is, where the neighborhood has been and where the neighborhood wants to go.”

The events this week aren’t just about listening to the community. Organizers are seeking to make residents active partners in the improvements.

Friday’s trade skills workshop will link local contractor Anthony Haugabrook with residents who hang sheetrock, paint, do plumbing and work on other various residential skills.

One of the many goals of the event is motivating residents and building the community’s capacity to move without waiting on the city to get things done, said Tom Borrup, a consultant with Creative Community Builders, a Minneapolis-based firm that specializes in integrating local arts and culture into strategic urban plans for revitalization.

The Mill Hill project is part of the Macon Action Plan, a larger development plan to “envision the future for downtown and in town neighborhoods and guide change moving forward,” according to the plan’s website.

“We are really excited that (the Macon Arts Alliance and Mill Hill: East Macon Arts Village) are moving this project forward,” said Alex Morrison, the Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority’s executive director. “Constantly having feedback from people that live and work here is important.”

Waynardo Curtis, a neighborhood organizer who lives on nearby Leaf Drive and was born in Macon, said he is very excited about the attention and funds coming in, but he wants to see how far it will go.

With growth, he said, comes destruction.

“I want to see (the residents) become a part of the growth, not just being kicked off. That’s my main concern,” Curtis said. “Get them ready for the changes to come.

“Right now, I don’t think they understand how much of a big change there will be in five years.”

Citing recent examples of Tindall Heights and Oglethorpe Homes, Curtis said the city didn’t use the community enough.

“I would like to change that in east Macon,” he said. “I want to make sure east Macon is a part of that growth, just not a location where growth is happening.”

This story was originally published March 30, 2017 at 5:06 PM with the headline "What do residents want in the community of the future? Organizers want to know."