CrossRoadsNews, April 22, 2017

Page 1

YOUTH

SCENE

Best foot forward

Masterful millinery

Obama Elementary is partnering with area businesses to beautify its grounds and create a pleasant learning environment. 4

Hats that are just perfect for the Kentucky Derby or for Mother’s Day will be on display at Macy’s fashion show on April 29. 7

Let’s Keep DeKalb Peachy Clean Please Don’t Litter Our Streets and Highways

EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER

Copyright © 2017 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.

April 22, 2017

Volume 22, Number 52

www.crossroadsnews.com

Decatur buying Children’s Home property for $40 million By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

ful process,” she told residents and the UMCH vice president of development, John Cerniglia, after the vote. Garrett said the purchase of the property fits the city’s mission, vision and values. “It is an investment for current and future families and children,” she said. Decatur anticipates closing the pur- Patti Garrett chase in the summer with UMCH vacating the property by late summer. The master planning effort will begin in the fall. The $40 million purchase price is $5 million more than UMCH said it was expecting.

The historic 77-acre United Methodist Children’s Home property on South Columbia Drive in Decatur is to become part of the city of Decatur. Members of the Decatur City Council voted unanimously on April 17 to purchase the property for $40 million. The vote ends months of speculation about the fate of property, which became a home to children orphaned by the Civil War in 1873. It is one of the last largely undeveloped parcels of land inside the Perimeter and near the city. Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett said that once the sale closes in about 190 days, the city will annex the 70 acres of the property in unincorporated Decatur and begin a communitybased master planning process to decide how to use it. “If you know anything about Decatur, it will be a thought- Please see PROPERTY, page 2

The city of Decatur is preserving historic Moore Chapel, shown with John Cerniglia, UMCH vice president of development.

DeKalb thwarting illegal dumpers with art Kids’ artwork graces new tool to fight blight By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

People who illegally dump trash and debris on DeKalb’s dead-end and littletraveled streets are coming up against some worthy adversaries – the whimsical artwork of kids. Across South DeKalb, known dumping haunts are now being blocked by 5,000pound concrete barricades painted with butterflies, birds, dogs, picket fences and the like. The brightly colored barricades are part of Keep DeKalb Beautiful’s Barriers to Beauty program. To date, 20 to 25 barriers have been installed on streets like Wesley Chapel Road near Flat Shoals Parkway, South Columbia Drive, Oakvale Road, and near the intersection of Thompson Mill and Snapfinger roads. Gordon Burkette, Keep DeKalb Beautiful’s program director, said the county started The concrete it as a pilot last spring. It got such rave rebarricades views that it is now an important part of the painted by the county’s blight-fighting toolkit. Lithonia children Burkette said the colorful barricades are were installed effective. on April 13 on “In the neighborhoods where we put Nova Lane in them, people stopped dumping and neighEllenwood after a bors like them because they are not institusite cleanup by a tional looking,” he said. “They give a softer county crew. feel.” Burkette first saw decorated barricades in Jackson, Miss. He thought it was a great idea that could accomplish dual goals for trashchallenged DeKalb County – deny vehicular access to dumpers and beautify the site once cleaned up. Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews Back home, Burkette offered kids at the county’s 2016 annual Fun Day the opportu- to the Montessori School at Emory and to and to the Lucious Sanders Recreation Cennity to tap into their creative side. the county’s Neighborhood Summit held at ter in Lithonia. The kids had so much fun, they took it Greater Travelers Rest Church in November For the Barriers to Beauty project, kids

Lucious Sanders Rec Center afterschool students paint concrete barricades that were installed in Ellenwood to block access to a road used for illegal dumping.

spray-paint the base of the gray concrete blocks, then use stencils made from recycled election campaign signs to paint a range of animals, insects, and yellow suns. The most recent set of painted barricades was installed April 13 to deny access to Nova Lane in Ellenwood. The artists were 15 children in the Lucious Sanders Rec Center afterschool program in the city of Lithonia. Kala Green, whose Telstar Drive home borders the one-block Nova Lane, loved the barriers immediately. “We need more of those,” she said as the county crew was packing up after hoisting them in place. Green said she is frustrated by the dumping in her neighborhood and the county. “I don’t know why people do what they Please see BARRICADES, page 2


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