Demorest residents will soon have more elbow room during city council meetings. They’ll also have a large space for other civic activities. That’s because, by next month, the city will be settled into its newly-renovated municipal conference center.
Located in the Historic Demorest Elementary School’s auditorium, the conference center is significantly larger than the former municipal complex on Ivy Street.
Over the past several weeks, contractors painted the auditorium and wired and connected the audio-visual equipment. They relocated the council bench from across town and installed it on the auditorium’s stage.
Workers will install new carpet this week, and after that, they’ll do the final “punch-out list” and cleaning, says Demorest City Manager Mark Musselwhite.
The mayor and council will christen the facility at their next regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, September 12.
MORE: Demorest Council to change meeting dates temporarily
“This first meeting will be the beginning of a milestone timeframe for the citizens of Demorest and Habersham County,” says Musselwhite. “The city will be opening the Demorest Municipal Conference Center on that day, and this conference center will be the center point for the city for many years to come.”
Demorest will use the new conference center for a number of public activities, including council meetings and municipal court and, possibly, voting.
“The plan is to use the new auditorium for the elections, but we’re waiting on confirmation from the county,” says Musselwhite.
Park pavilion and other enhancements
As work nears completion on the conference center, crews are also making steady progress on the new pavilion and restrooms at Demorest Springs Park. The structure is located near the Demorest Police Station on Georgia Street.
“Bryan Popham and his crew have done an awesome job to get us to the point where the roof is topped off and dried in. The roofer will come in next, and the brick mason will start to lay 26,000 estimated bricks,” he says.
Public works crews and subcontractors are working jointly on the project. Musselwhite says they’ve “worked well together, and I see that continuing throughout the remaining part of the build-out process.”
“We are very pleased with the quality of the work and the progress.”
Crews should complete the pavilion and restrooms by late fall.
It’s been a busy and productive year for Demorest. In addition to these two projects, the city has:
- Relocated city hall to the historic elementary school;
- repaired and opened for public use the historic school’s gymnasium;
- installed a new retaining wall along Central Avenue/Highway 441 to replace the old wall damaged by Hurricane Delta.
Demorest is also working on repairs at the Brent Lee Moore Memorial ballfield. City leaders are planning a special Boy Scout dedication ceremony at the ballfield later this year.
