After evaluating the area's amenities back in May, the Georgia Tourism Product Development Team returned to Catoosa County last week to provide local officials with recommendations and strategies for attracting tourists in order to bolster economic development.
Though the team's wide-ranging report weighs in on everything from arts and historical amenities to outdoor recreational resources, much of the focus during the team's Sept. 11 meeting was on downtown development.
Looking to Fort Oglethorpe, the team urged local planners to find the "funding or political will" to activate the city's gateway, pointing to projects already in the works for the city, such as the Lafayette road master plan and the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission's feasibility study for bikeway and pedestrian multi-use routes in Catoosa, Walker and Dade counties.
Further suggestions included placing a sign that reads "Welcome to Home of the 6th Calvary & Chickamauga Battlefield" to attract passersby.
Cindy Eidson lists suggestions for downtown development and historical preservation throughout Catoosa County. (Staff photo by Myron Madden)"People need to know about it," said development team Director Cindy Eidson. "When they're driving down, they don't know that the promised land is just sitting right over there off that main four-lane."
With the millennial population nationwide beginning to overtake the baby boomers, development officials also suggested Fort Oglethorpe turn its attention to opening coffee shops and microbreweries.
Eidson said the additions would pair well with the city's trail connections, which are already drawing young outdoor enthusiasts to the area.
She suggested the city look into purchasing an old gym space that's currently for sale near consignment shop Tootie's Treasures, as well as repurposing a vacant muffler shop on Lafayette Road into a restaurant with a feel similar to Universal Joint in Decatur or The Filling Station in Dalton.
For downtown Ringgold, the team suggested beautifying alleyways with lighting, outdoor seating, landscaping and artwork to turn them into pocket parks that visitors could stroll through on an evening in the town.
"Kids love walking through alleyways," Eidson said. "If you could light them up, there's so many opportunities to really be able to make something fun and interesting that you could do downtown."
Other suggestions for Ringgold included painting murals that illustrate the area's history on vacant walls of downtown buildings; creating a packet listing all of the city's most photogenic locales to distribute to professional photographers and wedding planners; and moving the Catoosa Farmer's Market from the Northwest Georgia Amphitheatre to downtown Ringgold, allowing visitors to continue shopping at nearby stores once they've left the market.
Looking at Catoosa County as a whole, team members suggested installing wayfinding signage along the area's roads and trails.
Unlike the blue Tourist Oriented Directional Signs drivers might pass on the highway, the wayfinding system proposed would bring themed, creative signage meant to stand out from traditional street signs and commercial markers. Though intended to direct tourists to attractions, dining and services, these suggested signs would also be a way to distinguish the community.
"The whole point is to make it uniform, to make it informative, to help visitors know that they are in a community and that there are things to see," said Janet Cochran, the team's tourism project manager.
The signs would also prevent visitors from getting lost and wandering into "dangerous, unsightly or unflattering" areas planners may not want them to see, the report states.
"There are some wayfinding signs currently in Ringgold that were put in to assist right after the tornado disaster [in 2011], but as a county, as a whole, it would be more beneficial to have something more countywide and uniform and a little easier to read," Cochran said.
In addition to new ideas, Chris McKeever, director of the 6th Calvary Museum in Fort Oglethorpe, said the team's findings bring validity to concepts that may have only been in discussion among locals.
"It's not just our crazy ideas - other crazy people are saying, 'Hey! They were right! This is how it should be developed,'" McKeever said, pointing specifically to the suggestions about signage. "We just have to get everyone on the same page and do this countywide and include the cities as well."
TPD team members said they hope the report helps the assessed areas evaluate and expand their heritage and cultural tourism program, and pointed to resources such as TPD grants that community leaders can utilize to find funding for the work.
Email Myron Madden at mmadden@timesfreepress.com