City Making Progress On Projects

Friday, August 16th, 2024

As the summer gives way to fall, the City of Dalton is moving forward on a number of projects. Various stormwater management projects as well as the renovation of the John Davis Recreation Center are in the construction phase while other projects are getting close to breaking ground. 

John Davis Recreation Center

Building footers are being installed and the foundation work has started on the new facilities at the John Davis Recreation Center. The project, which includes the construction of a new gym and renovation of existing administrative buildings as well as new entry and locker room buildings for the pool, is still expected to be substantially completed by the end of August 2025. 

Caption: An aerial photo shows the construction site around the existing administrative building at the John Davis Recreation Center

"A lot of the components of the project like HVAC equipment, electrical switch gears - since the pandemic a lot of the lead times on those items have doubled," said City Administrator Andrew Parker. "Once subcontractors start ordering equipment, a lot of that equipment has 40+ week lead times. It may not look like a lot of activity has happened so far, but the project gets completed in a way where the things are done in the order where when that equipment does arrive it will be the perfect time for it to be installed."

Parker pointed out that the delays receiving some equipment is not delaying the overall completion of the project at this time.

"The best thing you can do is plan for the worst and hope for the best as it relates to issues like that. Luckily none of those lead times are slowing us down right now. There’s plenty of progress that can be made before any of that becomes an issue," he said. 

Prater Alley Stormwater Detention Project

If you've driven by City Hall lately, you've probably noticed crews doing a lot of digging beside the western parking lot next to Waugh Street. The ever-deepening hole will eventually be a pond with landscaping features to complement the surroundings and also to manage stormwater flow along Prater Alley. The City acquired the properties adjacent to City Hall earlier this year to make way for the new stormwater management feature. 

Caption: Construction of the new Prater Alley stormwater detention project is seen from the City Hall parking lot

"The construction phase has been very smooth. I’d say we’re approaching 50 to 60 percent complete," said Chad Townsend, Dalton's Public Works Director. "There’s still a substantial amount of dirt that still has to get removed, and we're making progress on the retaining wall. Currently, it’s going as well as we could hope for. I’d say we have roughly four months left until completion."

Walnut Avenue North Drainage Project

The City of Dalton recently completed the second phase of a four phase project to correct flooding issues that have presented problems for neighborhoods in what is called the Walnut Avenue North Drainage Basin. The first phase, completed last year, was the construction of a regenerative stormwater conveyance (RSC) in the West Hill Cemetery. The second phase, the Ridge Street stormwater bypass, was completed at the beginning of the summer. Construction of the third phase, the Franklin Street stormater bypass, will be put out for bids soon. The fourth phase, the stream bank stabilization along Valley Drive, is in the permitting phase. 

Even though the work to solve the stormwater issues in the drainage basin is only halfway complete, the completion of the first two phases has already made a huge impact. The Ridge Street bypass was completed only days before the May 8th storm that drenched Dalton, and residents reported seeing a big difference at their homes. 

"The impact is amazing," said Cathy Snyder, a resident of Ridge Street. "We would have flooded, our little apartment down there would have been underwater. It had flooded numerous times before. We'd learned, we had to use sandbags to try to address controlling it... but we had no issues, none. Everything worked the way it was supposed to."

"I don't have to go run home and worry about our little cottage flooding," Snyder said. "We are so thankful for the City of Dalton." 

Huntington Drive Stormwater Project

Another stormwater management project that is close to the finishing line is the creation of another stormwater pond in the Dickson Acres subdivision off of Huntingon Drive. Earlier this year, the Dalton Public Works Department demolished a home acquired by the City for the purpose of reducing flooding concerns in that area. Existing stormwater infrastructure was re-routed to the site for flood storage. 

The City recently awarded a landscaping contract for the completion of beautification of the site which will complete the project. That work is underway, with many landscaping features already in place. Trees have been planted and sod will be laid down in the coming weeks.

More Stormwater Projects On The Horizon

The City of Dalton has a number of other stormwater management projects in development. Consulting firm Arcadis recommended nearly 30 projects to reduce flooding concerns and better manage stormwater in the City as part of Dalton's "21st Century Stormwater Plan." City leaders estimate they are approximately 30 percent of the way through the list. 11 projects are currently active, either in the design or permitting phase or being constructed. Among the projects still being designed, there is a project to ease flooding issues along Glenwood Avenue and also the creation of a memorial park at the site of the Temple Beth-El synagogue which will also have a stormwater management feature. 

"I would go as far as saying it was a generational solution for the City of Dalton to have a plan and start working through the projects. Obviously with the cost of projects and the complications of delivering the project... it was never contemplated that we’d get all 30 projects done in one year. This is a generational solution that’s going to take some time over the next several years to implement as funding becomes available," Parker said, noting that stormwater projects were included in the 2024 SPLOST approved by voters earlier this year. 

"I’m not saying we’re the only ones in the state that are doing this (creating an overall stormwater management projects plan), but there aren’t many in the state or even the country that are doing it," Townsend said. "The APWA (American Public Works Association) has recognized that and they've approved us to come speak at their national convention in Atlanta next month, so we look forward to sharing our lessons learned with other cities so that it might give them a road map for how they can achieve their own solutions."

Other Projects

The City is moving forward with the streetscape project along Cuyler Street. Dalton Utilities has been working on installing new sewer linings and new water lines in the project area. With that work complete, the streetscape contractor will soon begin installing new storm drain infrastructure associated with the project. Completion of the streetscape renovation is expected in late 2025. 

Construction of a new property and evidence storage facility at the Dalton Police Department is well underway. The department had outgrown the P&E facility in the existing building because of the amount of evidence that the department is required to retain by law. The new building is located just to the north of the Police Services Center at 301 Jones Street. Foundation sitework has been completed, and construction crews are beginning to put up cinderblock walls. Completion of that project is expected next summer. 

Caption: An aerial photo shows construction of the new property and evidence building to the right of the existing Police Services Center on Jones Street