Centerville Mayor reveals possible downtown in 2020

Centerville Mayor John Harley says residents could see a major change on Church Street come 2020. While discussing his wishes for the upcoming year, Harley revealed prospects for a downtown in Centerville.

This year, Centerville went through a major rebranding process that included a new logo, multiple entryway signs being redesigned, plans for a new fire station and continuance with Center Park at Centerville project.

Harley says the Center Park project attracted some unnamed business owners who informed him that they would want to open up shop around the park once it was completed. At the Robins Regional Chamber’s October Eggs & Issues Forum, Harley and economic development director Kate Hogan discussed the Center Park project and additions.

The estimated budget for the project is $2 million and is moving along into the execution stage. Harley says the project should be complete the first week of May 2020. Harley says the downtown area would start on Houston

Lake. He spoke excitedly about the idea of the city of nearly $10,000 people getting a downtown area. He made a note to add that Church St. would be widened to accommodate the growing traffic in that area.

Another major project that took root in 2019 and will sprout in 2020 is the new fire station. Harley says it will be the nicest fire station in all of Houston County and was beaming with pride when he spoke about it. At Eggs & Issues, it was revealed that the project would cost $3.7 million dollars.

The project will be built at the exact same location as the old station right beside Centerville Elementary. Harley says the city wouldn’t have to acquire any land that way. He revealed that the old station would be decommissioned and used mainly for storage.

He also revealed the start of the new Centerville citizens academy that will give residents and in-depth look at the inner workings of the city. Residents can sign up for the academy now as applications are available online. Similar to the Perry Your City Program, the academy’s purpose is to give more transparency to the people.