About

The City of Tifton, the county seat for Tift County, is a community located in South Georgia just off Interstate 75, Highway 82, Highway 319, and US 41. Tifton is known as the “Friendly City” and is a community that truly exemplifies southern hospitality.

Tifton has 15,000 plus residents, serves a seven county area and is expected to be named the next regional hub in South Georgia. Tifton is the home of the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC). The campus is located just outside the City of Tifton. A Board of Regents’ study showed that ABAC had an overall $110 million annual impact on the South Georgia area in January 2005. ABAC is one of the largest residential, co-educational two-year colleges in Georgia. Also located just outside the City of Tifton is the Agrirama, Georgia’s Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village.

The City of Tifton is designated as a Community Development Block Grant entitled community. The City, through its Downtown Development Authority (DDA), works with public, nonprofit, and private-sector service agencies to identify the needs and objectives of its community in order to employ a strategy for programs funded under the CDBG. Each of the priorities in the Urban Redevelopment Plan includes an analysis of the problem, overview of existing programs related to the priority, and specific objectives. Priorities are housing, downtown redevelopment, community and economic development, recreation and greenspace, and homelessness.

Tifton's Downtown Redevelopment History

The City of Tifton began the rejuvenation of its downtown in the mid 1980’s with the restoration of the Myon Hotel, the Golden Building, the Tift Theatre and others. Since 1986, the tax base of downtown Tifton has shown tremendous growth, averaging a 13 percent increase from year to year.

With the redevelopment and rehabilitation of buildings, new and existing businesses have returned to downtown. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) was formed in 1986 to oversee the renovation process and to foster and support economic development in the City of Tifton. Pledging to make downtown the center of community activity that it once was, the DDA has been instrumental in recruiting residential, commercial, cultural and governmental activities for the downtown area.

Many of the buildings that had become pigeon aviaries are now shining examples of historic preservation and downtown development. The Tifton Museum of Arts and Heritage, once a church, was built by Captain Tift’s entourage of shipbuilders. The church’s interior features are truly unique. The once vacant post office now houses the Tifton-Tift County Public Library. Brumby Crossing, a former cotton and tobacco warehouse, is now home to retail stores and private offices. Another renovation has been the former Williams Brothers Grocery Warehouse. It is now home to the Social Security Administration. More projects are on the drawing board for ongoing downtown development.

People have found loft apartment living desirable, and second and third story building space now has a new use. Greenspace was preserved creating quiet hamlets in which a brown bag lunch could be enjoyed or an evening street dance could be held. The most recent renovation is the old gas station at the corner of Highway 82 and Main Street. Renovated by the City of Tifton, it now houses the City’s Business Development Center and Tifton Welcome Station. A new Criminal Justice Center adjacent to the Business Development Center now stands where dilapidated buildings once were.

The Horizon Carpet Mill

According to the Urban Redevelopment Plan, “there is a potential brownfield area along 9th Street where a number of abandoned agriculture and light industrial buildings exist. A number of large vacant lots mark the sites of prior demolitions. Anchoring the north end of the area is an 8-acre site of the former Horizon Carpet Mill. The facility has been mostly vacant since the mid-1990s.”

The Horizon Mill site negatively impacts every outsider’s view of Tifton as they enter downtown. They are more likely to think that “Tifton is not doing so great; things are drying up” when the opposite is true. Because the site seems to be unoccupied and vacant, the west side of Tifton is seen as a blighted, unsafe community that is subject to transient occupation. The site is a health risk and a haven for rats, rodents and mosquitoes. Residents and business owners surrounding the site have complained to the City about the rat and rodent problems coming from the overgrown state of the property.

The Horizon Mills site is located along the west side of downtown and is the target site for this assessment grant. This project will benefit the City of Tifton’s Downtown Historic District and have a positive impact on the neighborhood traditionally known as “The Heights”. The redevelopment of the Horizon Mills site will spur redevelopment of the west side of town. If the site were redeveloped, it is expected that it will set the tone for the rest of the area and become a pivotal part of downtown revitalization. The Horizon Mills site is seen as the “bridge” between the I-75 corridor and the downtown area.

Planning for the Future

The City developed an Urban Redevelopment Plan in 2000 and has been undergoing revitalization in the downtown area with an investment of over $2 million. What was once known as Main Street and South Main Street are now known simply as Main Street. The goal of the City is to connect the downtown area with the west side of town, the ABAC campus and the new development around the interstate. This plan includes expanding current walking / biking trails already begun in the City of Tifton. The City has established a Downtown Development Authority and Urban Redevelopment Agency to implement Smart Growth policies in its redevelopment efforts.

The South Georgia Regional Development Center (RDC) is also a partner in this redevelopment effort and used the Horizon Mills site as a model in a pilot project to help residents envision new uses for the property. The RDC has developed a computer simulated “flyover” of a new use for the redeveloped space.

EPA Brownfields Grant

In April 2006 the City of Tifton was awarded an EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant totaling $150,000. The project focuses on the Former Horizon Mill property. The site, originally used for tobacco packaging and distribution in the late 1800s, was converted to a textile mill around 1950. Currently, the site is not in use and is suspected to have environmental contamination.

Grant funds will be used to determine the degree and extent of contamination on the property, plan for cleanup and redevelopment, and identify potential end-use applications. By assessing contamination at the site, the City is quantifying the risks involved in putting it back into productive use to encourage redevelopment.

Grant activities began in October 2006 and the project will continue through September 2009.

Grant Activities

The City of Tifton will conduct Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments at the Former Horizon Mill property. These assessments will identify and quantify the level of contamination at the site and provide the information needed for cleanup activities. Other sites for future assessment and redevelopment activity will also be identified.

In addition, the City will work with stakeholder groups to create cleanup and redevelopment plans for the property. These plans will detail potential end-use applications for the site once the contamination issues have been addressed.

The City will also monitor key health and environmental indicators from State and local data sources to assess the potential health impact of the property.