Macon arts village taking shape

The centerpiece of an arts village in Macon’s oldest neighborhood could be ready by the summer of 2017.

Restoration is underway in Mill Hill East Macon Arts Village where the former auditorium on Clinton Street will become an arts center and gathering place for community events. While renovations to the historic auditorium are expected to be finished by June 2017, the first homes that will be used for artists’ residences should be completed in a couple of months.

On Tuesday, officials behind the project gave a tour of the arts village that aims to revitalize the neighborhood located near Coliseum Drive. Jan Beeland, executive director of the Macon Arts Alliance, said she’s glad to see the progress, including the work being done to turn the old auditorium into the Mill Hill Community Arts Center.

“I’m excited to be able to bring back a structure that was used to bring people together and return it to its original use for Fort Hawkins — the oldest neighborhood in Macon,” Beeland said. “It’ll be a place where people gather, are entertained and learn.”

The auditorium, built in 1920, now has a new roof courtesy of $211,000 from an anonymous donor. Also, construction bids for the rest of the restoration will be sent out in the next four to six weeks.

Another $813,000 from the Macon-Bibb County blight bond funds has been dedicated by commissioners to the auditorium. The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority will own the arts center, and the Macon Arts Alliance will operate it.

The auditorium will feature a culinary arts training kitchen and offer programs such as poetry, sewing and job training. The building will be rented out for various events and become a place for community meetings.

“We’re (also) sort of thinking about workforce education in terms of not just artists but creating entrepreneurship,” said Jonathan Harwell-Dye, director of creative placemaking at Macon Arts Alliance.

But while construction nears for the auditorium, crews are already renovating four homes — the first phase of an artist residency program — that are expected to be completed in June. The cottages that are being restored along Schell Avenue and Hydrolia Street are part of the two-year Mill Hill Visiting Artist Program that will allow artists to collaborate with Maconites.

The residency program is funded through a National Endowment for the Arts grant.

Other homes that were built about the same time as the auditorium likely will include three to four more cottages that will be restored in the project’s second phase.

The front porches can be used as community spaces where artists can interact with people, Harwell-Dye said.

Because the building materials for the homes are unique, some of it is being reused from other houses that are being torn down. The auditorium was truly a vital place for the neighborhood when it first opened, Harwell-Dye said.

“Originally, when these homes were built, there wasn’t running water so there were outhouses, and the showers were in the auditorium,” he said.

The Mill Hill arts village also will feature a linear park along Clinton Street, said Alex Morrison, executive director of the Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority.

The neighborhood, which backs up to the Ocmulgee National Monument, is also part of a tax allocation district. The TAD allows some property tax revenue in that area to be used for redevelopment. Also, a revolving loan fund could be used to promote reinvestment there, Morrison said.

While work on the projects moves forward, efforts to engage residents will continue.

The initial ideas for the project came from from interviews with people throughout the neighborhood. They revealed the biggest improvements they wanted to see were to infrastructure, blight, streetscape beautification and youth programs, Harwell-Dye said.

In October 2017, a plan will be presented on how to best utilize the community’s assets, he said.

“Our final project will be a road map for the future,” Harwell-Dye said.

Also, a series of community meetings will gather more input. But stories from people who remember the auditorium’s heyday are part of what can make it a community resource again, Beeland said.

“People who have a connection are going out and telling what’s happening, and that’s the best story of all,” she said.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Macon arts village taking shape."