FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 9, 2015 Media Contact: J.R. Olive, 478.719.0202, jr@collegehillmacon.com Newly Named College Hill Corridor Commissioners Announced Along with Funding from the Knight Community Projects Fund $50,000 Available to Fund Community’s Best Ideas for the College Hill Corridor Macon, GA – The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is providing $50,000 to the College Hill Corridor Commission to continue funding the community’s best ideas through the newly formed Knight Community Projects Fund. The announcement was made during a celebration of success, held December 9, 2015 at the Tattnall Square Center for the Arts. The celebration and announcement marked the completion of the grant-funded College Hill Alliance’s six-year tenure in office and included the naming of a newly restructured College Hill Corridor Commission, the allvolunteer, community-based task force that is overseeing the continued work of the College Hill Corridor Master Plan. The Commission will also oversee the selection of projects to receive funding from the Knight Community Projects Fund. Similar to the previous Knight Neighborhood Challenge, Macon residents can submit an idea, starting December 10, that aligns with the College Hill Corridor Master Plan. Projects selected will be announced by February 1, 2016. The submission form will be located at collegehillmacon.com. “Over the last eight months we have been working on a revised structure for the volunteer-driven College Hill Corridor Commission so that we could ensure continued momentum and energy in the Corridor even after the Alliance sunsets,” said Carrie Ingoldsby, co-chair of the College Hill Corridor Commission. “We are grateful to Mayor Robert Reichert, Mercer President Bill Underwood and Beverly Blake with the Knight Foundation for their guidance through this process and support of the newly restructured Commission. We look forward to not only a successful call for ideas this spring bringing new, exciting projects to the Corridor but a long-term vision for the Commission that will carry on the great work that has been done for years to come.” History of the College Hill Corridor Project
In 2009, the two-square-mile collection of historic neighborhoods that stretched from Mercer University to Downtown Macon would take on a role that has never been done in the history of our city. With the partnership of committed, public and private stakeholders, a comprehensive master plan collected from community input, and an initial $5 million in funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the newly branded College Hill Corridor project set off to prove that Macon’s “potential” could indeed be turned into a wildly successful reality that has leveraged over $150 million in public and private investment and increased annual tax revenue by $1 million for Macon-Bibb. In September that year, the office of the College Hill Alliance opened its doors to support the community’s charge. The College Hill Corridor Master Plan was to be implemented. And with the majority of the funding being provided in $3 million of Knight Neighborhood Challenge grants – opened to anyone who was ready to put an idea that correlated with the Master Plan into motion – it was time to get to work. The Alliance’s time in office was limited, by design. With the community leading the charge, the office would direct the sense of urgency in completing the Master Plan and support the various projects being put into place from all areas of the Corridor. This administrative support ranged from community-led ideas that needed proper permitting to organizing events, such as Second Sunday, and formulating event sustainability plans by developing and nurturing continued partnerships. The Alliance was also charged to assist the area in recruiting and retaining local businesses, promoting home ownership and engaging entrepreneurs and residents in the College Hill effort. The Alliance garnered multiple awards over the course of being in office from 2009 through 2015, including one of the highest global honors in neighborhood revitalization, the International Economic Development Council’s Gold Excellence in Economic Development Award. After six years in office – and additional Knight Foundation grant of $2.2 million in 2012 – the College Alliance is now returning leadership of the initiative to the all-volunteer Commission. With over 90 percent of the original College Hill Master Plan complete, a stronger community driving the sense of place, and a hip and historic town and gown connection found throughout Macon’s urban core, the Alliance has successfully completed its job and exceeded expectations. But the work of College Hill continues just as it started – with the neighbors, stakeholders, participants and believers leading the game-changing effort with the newly formed College Hill Corridor Commission and Knight Community Projects Fund. For more information, please contact College Hill Program Coordinator J.R. Olive, jr@collegehillmacon.com, 478.719.0202.
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