City of Smyrna, GA
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Ongoing / Completed Projects
In January of 2025, the City Council had a retreat and made a lot of planning progress, which included some new projects and some pivots from planned projects. On February13 City Council and I held a citywide Town Hall meeting where we provided updates on some of these projects, including the downtown redevelopment (Smyrna First Baptist Church property). We gave updates on the downtown splash feature upgrade and new bathroom, Stillfire Brewery, Tolleson Pool rebuild and upgrade, IGO Church site redevelopment along Windy Hill Road, Riverline Splash Pad, and provided information about opportunities available to us for the Castellaw site (adjacent to the Wolfe Adult Athletic Center) and the Emory Hospital site along South Cobb Drive. View the recorded meeting on this website at Town Hall Meeting/Podcast Recording (brief on the projects) and the city Facebook page. For information about projects specific to Parks & Recreation, you may also visit https://www.smyrnaga.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/parks/parks-and-recreation-master-plan/upcoming-projects
Downtown Redevelopment - First Baptist Church Property - In March 2024, the City and Smyrna First Baptist Church reached an agreement for the City, through the Downtown Development Authority, to purchase the existing church campus located on Church Street that also allows for the Church to purchase property owned by the Development Authority on Atlanta Road between the Reed House and South State Bank and relocate there. The nine-acre church campus site offers a rare opportunity for Smyrna that any city would welcome – a chance to expand our downtown and include uses like new retail, restaurants, parking, housing and greenspace. The new space will be shaped from extensive public input over the next 24 months. This is also an opportunity for the church to relocate close to our city center and with new facilities for their mission. (The link in the title will send you to the project website that includes information about participating in the public input opportunities as well as notice of meetings.)
As part of this agreement, the City will maintain the 1924 stone chapel for public use. The Church is continuing to lease the existing church campus from the City for two years while they construct their new facility. During this time, the community will be involved in robust citizen input through a community engagement process – beginning this Spring. That process includes three community workshops, six to eight stakeholder roundtables, a dedicated website with online activities (interactive mapping, idea generation, and surveys), two online surveys at project milestones along with pop-ups, street stalls, and kiosks at Smyrna community events. We look forward to your participation and encourage you to take advantage of all surveys and public sessions.
Visit the website for the Downtown Redevelopment Project for updates on meetings and to see survey results. https://www.downtownsmyrnaredevelopment.com/
- The splashpad water feature that was a splash pad on one side and a reflecting pool on the other will now be all one splashpad water feature, which will make it safer and more useable for children. The playground next to the library will be replaced with a new playground geared towards younger children (ages two to five), and a new bathroom facility will be added next to the playground. A shade structure and granite seat wall will be added adjacent to the water feature, which will have more jets added. We anticipate these projects to be completed in July 2025. To view updates and renderings visit the Parks & Recreation page dedicated to upcoming projects at Upcoming Parks Projects
- Stillfire is finally under construction!
- The parking deck that was going to be built between the community center and the police station is now going to be a surface parking lot providing an additional 70 parking spaces downtown.
Tolleson Pool Rebuild - The existing Tolleson Pool is in need of a rebuild after 60 years of service because of deterioration of the facilities and public safety issues. The new project will include a heated competition pool, a recreational family pool and lazy river, zero entry little kids splash area, stand-alone waterslide, shaded area for younger children, bleachers for competitions/meets, expanded parking, and a services building. These features were based on over 1,000 individual citizen responses from multiple public input sessions. The project will take 24 - 30 months to complete design and construction, with the grand opening planned for May 2027.
The new city aquatics facility will provide recreation opportunities for 500 people (an increase from 180), will be city operated, and is estimated to cost between $16 - $18 million. It will be paid for through the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and public financing.
Because of the cost of an indoor aquatics facility ballooned to between $40-$50 million, and considering $1-2 million annual maintenance and staffing costs, the decision was made to not move forward with an indoor pool. There is no other Cobb County city that has a city-run pool, and Smyrna has two (which includes the Wolfe Senior Center pool). We are looking forward to these dramatic improvements at Tolleson Park and look forward to opening it to you in 2027. (For information on Parks & Recreation projects, visit https://www.smyrnaga.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/parks/parks-and-recreation-master-plan/upcoming-projects)
Ward 7 / Riverline Park Splash Pad – This addition to Riverline Park first began with former Ward 7 Councilmember Lewis Wheaton and is now coming to fruition under Ward 7 Councilmember Rickey Oglesby, Jr., and we are happy to let you know that we anticipate a soft launch in the Fall with full opening next season. (For information on Parks & Recreation projects, visit https://www.smyrnaga.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/parks/parks-and-recreation-master-plan/upcoming-projects)
IGO Church Property / Civic Building – The city recently approved a private development at the IGO site and plans to purchase the portion of this property fronting Windy Hill Road for the future construction of a civic building for recreational use.
Emory Hospital Site (13 acres)– Emory is selling this property, and Smyrna was approached with a proposal for 600+ apartments on the site. But we think there is an opportunity here for a much better use or mix of uses, primarily recreational based. Opportunities and uses being explored include working with potential local and regional partners to create a destination that could include pickleball, youth sports, senior programming, field/open space and other potential options.
Castellaw Site – The City had planned to purchase the Castellaw site on Church Street and build a city pickleball facility. We will still plan to purchase the property as part of the Emory Property bond, and will likely construct passive pickleball courts rather than a full scale facility, especially considering the focus on a public/private pickleball facility for the Emory site.
Other Updates:
The 2028 SPLOST - approximately $85M - is planned to include recreation facilities, but also infrastructure and public safety.
The South Cobb Drive project (Concord Road to Windy Hill Blvd) is a $30M to $40M project with funding drawn from a combination of sources which include Federal, State and SPLOST. To date, $25M of Federal funding has been secured but still needs approximately $10M more. The project is anticipated to start in 2028.