Perry Downtown Development Authority prepares for more tourism

PERRY — Taking advantage of tourists' dollars was the focus of the Downtown Development Authority on Tuesday evening. The board discussed creating bus parking and having a trolley run between downtown and the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter.

"The idea was having a route that would run from the fairgrounds to downtown in peak events (but) not the fair itself," Main Street Coordinator Catherine Edgemon said to the DDA.

Director of Economic Development Robert Smith said a trolley has been considered in the past but never came to fruition.

"We're completing our analysis," Smith said. "It seems to be fairly expensive. ... What some communities are spending on trolley services and everything are well beyond what we thought would be the actual cost when we looked at doing something like this."

Smith said such a trolley system wouldn't be a revenue stream, but a free service.

Chairman David Grossnickle asked if any money would come from the state-owned fairgrounds "to provide a service like that for their guests to the community."

"In our discussions to this point, they have not indicated so," Smith said. "They'd want a very detailed plan about how this would operate, when this would operate (and) what sort of liability would (exist)."

Director Carl Lumpkin asked if running the trolley during the Georgia National Fair had been considered.

"You'd be surprised at how many people just don't want to drive out there," Lumpkin said of the fairgrounds.

Grossnickle, who owns a Chick-fil-A on Sam Nunn Boulevard, said the fair is good for his business but he's heard from some downtown merchants that "they're not sure it's worth opening sometimes because they're so slow."

Brian Burnham, who's also on the board, said the fair actually hurts businesses along Courtney Hodges and downtown.

"It's the dreaded 10 days," he said.

In other business, the DDA discussed possible locations for dedicated bus parking, including a drop-off area in front of the New Perry Hotel on Main Street and a parking area by the former Jaycee's building on Carroll Street.

Smith said Perry is at a disadvantage because it lacks designated bus parking.

As the city prepares to debut its branding initiative, "we need that type of infrastructure in place because a lot of who we're marketing to are out-of-town visitors," Smith said of the bus parking.

Also Tuesday night, Grossnickle, who was appointed to the board more than six years ago by City Councilman Riley Hunt, announced he will step down as chairman and resign from the board.

"December will be my last meeting," Grossnickle said. "Thank you guys for being a good board."

Terms of board member Kelly Hillis, who was not present for the meeting, and Lumpkin are also up in December. Lumpkin said he hasn't decided if he will continue to serve.

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @lauraecor

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 10:35 PM with the headline "Perry Downtown Development Authority prepares for more tourism ."