Here are 26 winning ideas to help Macon become a better place to live, work and play

Public Wi-Fi on Poplar Street, bus stops that look like works of art and a Native American statue downtown were among 26 ideas that will be brought to life in Macon.

The winners of the Downtown Challenge Grant’s final round were announced Tuesday evening at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. A total of $452,253 in grants were announced, ending the $3 million grant initiative made possible by donations from the Peyton Anderson Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Painted pianos, the bike share program, bike racks and dog waste stations are among the fruits of past rounds of the Downtown Challenge.

Kathryn Dennis, president of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, said 61 submissions for ideas were received this year, and narrowing it down to 26 was a task.

Three of this round’s grants were awarded to Tonja Khabir, who will focus on preserving the culture and history of the Pleasant Hill neighborhood.

“I love history and culture, especially as it pertains to African Americans,” Khabir said, adding that one of her uncles instilled within her a passion for the historically black neighborhood bisected by Interstate 75. “For the last three to four years I’ve been trying to find ways to, at least, you know, be there and how to bring it to life.”

The 31-year-old Macon native won a $8,400 grant to implement “Jones Cafe,” which will be an outdoor pop-up cafe that features small craft and food vendors, art, local music and spoken word artists in a way that also celebrates the history and culture of the neighborhood.

That idea, she said, feeds into a $4,000 grant she won to organize a “Pleasant Hill Photo Festival,” where former and current residents submit old photos of the neighborhood, share stories and talk. An additional $2,625 grant will help Khabir organize a bike tour of the neighborhood, where residents will tell true stories from their porches.

“As (Pleasant Hill) is slowly being revitalized, it is really important to me to make sure community voices are heard during that process,” Khabir said.

Other winners include:

▪ Patent and Business Formation Support: $40,000. Mercer University will support early-stage innovators and startups by providing financial assistance for patent filing and fees associated with Sole Proprietorship, limited liability companies and corporation business formation.

▪ Diversifying Downtown Businesses: $50,000. The Macon Black Pages will lead three training sessions for existing businesses, teaching them how to reach, attract and retain diverse customers. Next, it will recruit three new businesses owned by racial minorities to open or relocate to downtown.

▪ MAP Refresh and Report Card: $40,000. The Macon-Bibb County Development Authority will hire Interface Studio to do a MAP refresh and report card to guide a further report to the community and beyond.

▪ Public Wi-Fi at Poplar Street Park: $39,848. Middle Georgia State University’s School of Information Technology will partner with the Macon-Bibb County government to revitalize the public Wi-Fi broadband network downtown along Poplar Street Park.

▪ Master Signage Plan for Downtown Macon: $31,130. NewTown Macon, in collaboration with Wimberly Treadwell and Elizabeth Schorr, will reinforce a brand, identity and sense of place downtown by implementing the master signage plan.

▪ Lead Urbanism Pilot for the urban core: $30,000. The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority will be provided with matching funds to commission the Project for Lead Urbanism to implement a pilot “pink zone” in one of the urban core’s struggling residential areas. Pink zones make it easier to bring businesses to a community, Dennis said.

▪ Downtown Music Park: $25,000. The Downtown Macon Community Association will install a working music garden, complete with functioning sculptures, in the median on Third Street between Poplar and Plum streets.

▪ ONMA- Native American statue downtown: $25,000. The Ocmulgee National Monument Association will create a statue to bring awareness of the Native American heritage of Macon by honoring the legacy of the people that once called Ocmulgee National Monument home. The statue will be placed in an area that has high pedestrian traffic for all to enjoy.

▪ Macon Flowers Project: $25,000. Jeni Hansen Gard will host dozens of workshops for people who live in, visit or have a connection to Macon, where they will learn how to make a clay flower. The thousands of ceramic flowers will be used to create an outside public art piece in Mill Hill.

▪ Art Stop/ Bus Shelter: $20,000. Macon Arts Alliance will transform bus shelters into works of art, both permanent and temporary. The art must connect the shelter to the community in some way.

▪ A Merry and Bright Experience: $18,000. NewTown Macon will work to position Macon as the no. 1 holiday destination in the Southeast by providing an unparalleled experience that encourages people to visit Macon year-round.

▪ Macon Memories Photo Spots and Instagram Moments: $15,000. Macon-Bibb County Convention and Visitors Bureau will work to understand organic trends in photography-based social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, to assist user trends in making downtown Macon a more widely known iconic photo/tourism destination with photo spots.

▪ Ocmulgee Trail Entrance Gate Part 2: $15,000. Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority will provide an electronically controlled pedestrian gate linked to the Ocmulgee National Monument hours of operation and vehicular gates initially for utility vehicles only, but eventually becoming the new main entrance into the park.

▪ Mill Hill Arts Pavilion: $15,000. Macon Arts Alliance will construct an outdoor pavilion on the grounds of the Mill HIll Community Arts Center, creating an outdoor gathering space as well as an artist resource center for activities that cannot be done indoors like kiln firing, welding and woodworking.

▪ Downtown Stock Photo Library: $12,500. NewTown Macon will commission five professional photographers to submit samples of raw downtown photographs. It will then commission five images from each photographer to be edited and placed into an online photo album for free use both online and print.

▪ Young Musicians Workshop: $8,370. The Jazz Association of Macon will hold a summer workshop for middle school students in East Macon that will include introduction to music theory, learning to play an instrument and performing at the Mill Hill Community Arts Center.

▪ 24/7 Bicycle Parts Vending Machine: $8,280. Bike Walk Macon will purchase and install Middle Georgia’s first bicycle commuter vending machine to ensure that all downtown bicyclists have 24/7 access to all necessary bicycle accessories and repair tools.

▪ Outdoor classroom at Ocmulgee National Monument: $7,500. The Ocmulgee National Monument Association will create an outdoor classroom at the park. The classroom may be used to park interpretive staff and also by visiting groups. Educational trunks with supplies will be available for usage to create a hands-on learning experience.

▪ DTC Celebration: $5,000. The Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority will celebrate the Downtown Challenge project with a major event where it all began, in Cherry Street Plaza. We will have presentations from the recipients, give a report card on the first wave of MAP and have a big demo of MAP ideas.

▪ Let’s Do It Again- Make Music Day Macon 2019: $2,000. Gloria Stanley will organize Make Music Day Macon 2019. It will be the essence of a siesta in harmony of musicians, young and old, amateur and professional, musicians in Bibb County School District and other art engines performing on to streets, parks and venues in downtown Macon for free.

▪ Alley Canvases: $1,800. The 567 Center for Renewal will build designated graffiti walls and attach them to downtown buildings. Each wall will have a sign next to it explaining the rules for using the wall. Anyone can paint on it.

▪ Mulberry Market Extension: $1,800. NewTown Macon will reintroduce a monthly farmer’s market to downtown Macon’s central business district. A regular farmer’s market has not operated in downtown since 2014, when Mulberry Street Market moved to Tattnall Square Park and was renamed Mulberry Market at Tattnall Square Park.

▪ Downtown Alley Hopscotch Course: $1,000. William Finkelstein will create a hopscotch trail through eight blocks of downtown Macon, primarily intended to add enjoyment to the downtown pedestrian experience. Certain kind messages or tasks will be included at breaks along the trail.

This story was originally published November 28, 2018 at 9:37 AM.