You know those artist renderings of the City of Auburn’s vision for the new Toomer’s Corner we showed you a few weeks back? Well, the Toomer’s stuff (including that possible arch) may be the most important part of the Auburn Downtown Master Plan, but judging by the graphics shown Tueday at the final public meeting on what Auburn will maybe possibly look like five years from now, it’s by no means the hippest.
Dog parks, an amphitheater (which likely seat hundreds, and be in the general vicinity of Felton Little park), sustainable land usage, diversified housing, the recruitment of urban grocery stores—these are all terms and things on the verge of entering “the review / adoption” phase of the city’s vision, which was shaped in part by answers from business folk and regular folk to the question: “How do we preserve Auburn’s charm and history and scale and yet grow to meet 21st Century demands?”
So put on your horn rimmed glasses (I’ve had mine for 18 years, so don’t even… ) and take a look at the Possible Auburn of Tomorrow (click the photos to enlarge)…
“Obviously, there would have to be a tremendous amount of both public and private dollars spent for all this to come to fruition, but over the scope of the next 10 to 15 years I think we could see a lot of improvements that would be beneficial to the downtown merchants, for our student population and townspeople,” Auburn Mayor Bill Ham said at the meeting. “I’m very optimistic and excited about it. I hope people don’t get the idea by seeing those slides that it’s going to happen overnight.”
For specifics of the potential developments and restructuring, go here.
Related: Arches that ‘define the entrance into Toomer’s Corner’ possible for downtown Auburn.
More on Toomer’s Corner: Auburn grad attorney had no qualms defending Updyke / Toomer’s Oaks souvenirs will be branded ‘Auburn Oaks’ / Woodturned item made from Toomer’s Oaks will be on permanent display in Auburn art museum / Toomer’s Corner rollings didn’t start with Punt, Bama, Punt, says History / Did Auburn students celebrate Bear Bryant’s death by rolling Toomer’s Corner?
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So, the South Gay Street ‘idea’…on the left is that still part of AUMC or will it be appropriated? And as for ‘diversified housing’, you know that just means student condos and/or game day condos. Auburn needs to be very VERY careful with their improvement ideas and make certain it’s the right thing for the city and not just the University.
Not too sure – looks more like sections of Boston. It would be nice to upgrade Auburn and make her look less like a wide spot in the road, but isn’t that part of her charm? Just sayin’…
It’d be costly, but I’ve always thought the CSX crossing over N. College St. should be razed and a bridge for the tracks be built. That crossing always seemed to separate the two sides of College St. too much, and building an underpass there for pedestrians and street traffic would be an amicable solution for both.
Of course CSX would never approve, but with that rail corridor set to receive tremendous growth in freight shipping over the next fifty years, it should be considered. This would also make the CSX/College St. Intersection a quiet zone for the railroad.