Senoia may only have 4,000 residents, but 2012 brought a volume of activity that would be expected in a city many times it’s size. Whether the film industry, a variety of public works projects or the way local government is structured, the buzz of activity in Senoia in 2012 shows no signs of letting up in 2013.
Senoia in terms of economic activity, and the visitors that helped stimulate it, benefitted heavily in 2012 from the third season of the hit television show “The Walking Dead” again choosing the city as its home base. The top-rated TV show by the AMC network, and in conjunction with Riverwood/Raleigh Studios, transformed portions of the downtown area into the city called “Woodbury” that served as a sanctuary for the zombie apocalypse. While no one knows if Woodbury will survive in the show’s fourth season, what is known is that The Walking Dead will be returning to Senoia for another year.
A wealth of visitors made their way to Senoia for yet another purpose this year – to catch a look at the 2012 Southern Living Magazine Idea House located on the Gin Property adjacent to downtown. For Senoia and Southern Living, it was an unprecedented second time around for the magazine since the 2010 Idea House was a brownstone also located on the Gin Property site.
The year also saw a number of public works and other projects that had their beginnings in 2012 and will continue into 2013.
One of those includes a multi-purpose path along Rockaway Road now under construction and set for completion in early 2013, said City Administrator Richard Ferry.
In another city project, Ferry said the third phase of the city cemetery is expected to be completed in February, with lot sales to follow. The City Council in January approved the expansion, providing an additional 2.5 acres at the cemetery on Stallings Road to be developed for 1,020 additional grave sites.
Yet another project, actually a set of projects, involves the Senoia 20-year Parks and Recreation Master Plan approved in 2012 and designed to address a large number of issues related to active and passive recreation. And while it will be years in the making, the far-reaching plan calls for numerous improvements to the city’s existing park facilities and provides for the addition of two new parks.
“I think we’ll move forward with one or two projects (in 2013) depending on how (sales tax) dollars come in,” Ferry said.
Still another project, one in conjunction with Coweta County and the Coweta County Library System was the May opening of the long-awaited new library. The 6,563 square-foot library is situated on 1.04-acres on Pylant Street and is bound on the north by residential property, on the south by the scenic, city-owned Marimac Lake.
But there is much more going on in Senoia that will carry over from 2012. A sampling of the activity includes a change in the city charter to diminish a mayor’s power while imposing term limits on elected officials, a move toward state certification for the police department, the interior and exterior renovation of city hall to give it the look of a old train depot and the November announcement of a $31 million bond resolution by the Coweta County Development Authority for a near-term expansion at Winpak Films.
With a very successful 2012 under its belt, 2013 should be a sight to behold.
