Fayetteville will soon be outfitted with a new look designed to reflect the city’s history. By the end of summer motorists traveling east on Ga. Highway 54 just inside the historic district where the roadway splits into Stonewall Avenue and Lanier Avenue will see an 80-foot brick gateway wall topped with a new “Fayetteville” sign.
“We wanted a more visual impact to capture the historic nature of Fayetteville, something consistent in theme and color and architecture. And we wanted to have our version of the signs used in small towns for civic club logos,” Fayetteville Main Street Director Brian Wismer explained.
As envisioned and at approximately 80 feet in length and approximately six feet in height, the wall will be constructed of brick and will include three sculpted sections filled in with wrought iron fencing and a limestone coping that will be topped with carriage lights. There will also be a section for civic clubs to place medallions outfitted with their logos.
The brick will be the same color and style as found on the Main Street Building directly behind it, the new location of the two-story Regions Bank that opened in 2010. The inset wrought iron fencing will be reminiscent of the fencing used at the Fayetteville Cemetery less than 500 feet to the east.
Rather than being positioned directly in the middle of the landscaped area in front of the Main Street Building it will be positioned to the right to accommodate a full view by oncoming traffic, said Wismer.
The showpiece of new gateway wall will be a replacement for the current “Fayetteville” sign that has become dated and is in need of significant repair.
A section of the brick wall that will rise 12 feet off the ground and at a width of 12 feet will contain the “Fayetteville” lettering made of oxidized bronze.
As for the cost of the project, it is expected to be in the $40,000-50,000 range with funding coming from three sources. The majority of the construction cost will come from existing one-cent sales tax funds. The remaining cost will come from a small donation from the Fayetteville Rotary Club and the one-time fees civic clubs will be asked to contribute for their medallions, Wismer said.
“It has been a collaborative process between Main Street, the Downtown Development Authority and the owners of the Main Street Building property,” Wismer said of the various design discussions that have occurred over the past three years.
Wismer said he expects the project to go to bid before summer in time for the work to be completed by September.
