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 February 13 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.

By December of 2025 much progress has been made with updates to the content of this section, the Periodic Updates page, and associated pages. Mayor and Council met again at a retreat at the end of 2025. We look forward to continuing progress into 2026.

(For information about projects specific to Parks & Recreation, you may also visit the pages maintained by the Parks & Recreation department at https://www.smyrnaga.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/parks/parks-and-recreation-master-plan/upcoming-projects ) View Periodic Updates and Progress Reports - Various Projects (through May 2025).

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 which took place during 2025 with most of the public input completed by the close of 2025.

The church is relocating close to our city center and with new facilities for their mission. 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.

The public input portion of the process is substantially complete by December of 2025. That process included three community workshops (public meetings), 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 are grateful to the community for the robust participation and thank you for taking the surveys and for attending the public sessions. 

Visit the website for the Downtown Redevelopment Project for updates to see survey results and all stats regarding public participation. https://www.downtownsmyrnaredevelopment.com/

Downtown Public Space Updates

• 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.  It is currently under construction. The playground next to the library has been replaced with a new playground geared towards younger children (ages two to five), and a new bathroom facility has been added next to the playground. A shade structure and granite seat wall have been added adjacent to the water feature, which will have more jets added. To view updates and renderings visit the Parks & Recreation page dedicated to upcoming projects at Upcoming Parks Projects

• Stillfire is finally under construction and opening is anticipated for Spring 2026!
• The parking deck that was going to be built between the community center and the police station is now a surface parking lot providing an additional 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, recreational family pool and a 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 are planned 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, the new Aquatics Center is anticipated to be completed in March 2027 with the location grand opening planned for Spring 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., with anticipated completion in January 2026. (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.

• Concept Development and Environmental Assessments & Screening completion in 2025.
• Revised Traffic Engineering Report and Concept Report have been submitted to GDOT and Cobb DOT for review.
• Preliminary Engineering is underway and progressing through the GDOT process. 

View Periodic Updates and Progress Reports - Various Projects 

Upcoming Projects

• Cobb Parkway Pedestrian Bridge (in concept development) - Federally funded and early concept development stages (December 2025). Target concept approval in Q3; Let in early 2029
• Camp Highland - slope stabilization (Silver Comet Trail Reopened) - Concrete work substantially complete (December 2025)

Joint Projects with Cobb County 

• East/West Connector Roadway Safety Improvements - construction anticipated to begin in January 2026. Adding approximately 400-450 feet of turn lane queue. The E/W Connector safety project was let in November and is scheduled to have a preconstruction meeting on 12/9/25. Construction is anticipated to begin in January 2026.