Hogansville City Manager Issues Updates on Lake Jimmy Jackson, Other Projects

Hogansville City Manager David Milliron on Wednesday updated citizens via Facebook on the progress of the city’s various projects.

The projects include construction at Lake Jimmy Jackson, construction repairs on the Elm Street Bridge, and construction upgrades at the Hogansville Amphitheater.

Construction began at Lake Jimmy Jackson in September, and the city aims to make the lake, located along Blue Creek Road, into a recreational area.

It was a career-long dream of former Hogansville Mayor Jimmy Jackson. The late mayor left an indelible legacy in the Hogansville community through his lifetime of service, and current mayor Bill Stankiewicz and members of the city council in 2014 dedicated the lake in his honor. The move proved a civil rights triumph, as Lake Jimmy Jackson became the first lake in the state of Georgia to be named after an African-American.

Former Mayor Jackson, though never able to transform the lake into a recreational area (it was the source of Hogansville’s drinking water at the time) began setting aside money for the current project late in his career.

Now, as Milliron informed on Wednesday, the project is nearing completion, with an expected ribbon- cutting ceremony to be held in January 2019.

Currently, the project is in its first phase, which according to the city manager’s report, includes the construction of:

• Public restrooms with external drinking fountains • A boat launch

• Fishing dock

• Sand beach for swimming

• Parking lot

• Walking Trails Additionally, the city manager noted that lake water levels have been lowered twice since the project began, once to allow for the installation of the boat launch, and as Milliron said, “[once] for the delivery and spreading of tons and tons of beautiful white sand.”

The Elm Street Bridge project is expected to be finished ahead of schedule. Flooding in December 2015 and January 2016 damaged a portion of the historic bridge on Elm Street, and city crew members have worked diligently on repairs for the past two weeks.

Milliron noted that, “local, state, and federal dollars” were “hard at work” on the project and that in the past couple of weeks, crew members have managed to install double-barrel concrete culverts, backfill the area, and stabilize the creek bed. Next on the agenda will be the installation of guard rails and the paving of the bridge.

State-of-the-art restrooms have been installed at the Hogansville Amphitheater near Hogansville Elementary School. The restrooms are adjacent to the tennis courts and will be connected to the existing tower trail.

Milliron notes that the project is expected to be completed soon with a tentative ribbon-cutting scheduled for December 15, 2018.

All projects are at least in part funded through SPLOST dollars.

Citizens can find more information and updates on the projects on the City of Hogansville’s website at www.cityofhogansville.or g or on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Hoga nsvilleCityHall.

The author of this article can be reached via email at info@troupcountynews. net.