Placement of a new Lanier Tech entrance and parking lot in Dawsonville was carefully reviewed so that a number of large trees on the site could be preserved, and the design of the road will allow a nicer, park-like entrance for the Lanier Tech campus...
A collaborative planning effort between four county organizations will preserve a number of existing trees at the new entrance to Lanier Technical College in downtown Dawsonville. Construction of a new entrance and parking area off Hwy. 9 between the Bowen Center for the Arts and the Family Connection building is expected to start shortly.
The new entrance will be safer and create a proper entrance to the Lanier Tech Dawson County Campus according to Lake Gibson, vice president of the college. The location of the entrance will also allow the new Dawson County Middle School to have more parking on the Allen St. side of the school. Nicky Gilleland, school superintendent, indicated that the placement of the Lanier Tech entrance on Hwy. 9 will increase safety at both campuses by separating the parking lots for the two facilities.
Placement of the new Lanier Tech entrance and parking lot was carefully reviewed so that a number of large trees on the site could be preserved.
“The design of the road will allow a nicer, park-like entrance for the Lanier Tech campus,” stated Gibson. “Plus it will allow us to save many of the trees.” High school students originally planted some of the trees on the location as part of a school graduation project a number of decades ago.
Site construction will be the responsibility of Dawson County Engineer David Headley as part of the administration of Community Block Grants and other funds received by the county. Headley noted that the group was concerned from the beginning about preservation of trees on the site. “Everyone had the same goal,” Headley said. The property is actually owned by the Development Authority of Dawson County on behalf of Lanier Tech, the School Board and the County.
“This is an excellent example of different organizations coming together to realize a common goal,” stated Charlie Auvermann, executive director of the authority. “We all wanted to make this work, and we all wanted to preserve the trees. This is a well thought out project for not just these organizations, but the city and county citizens.”