Residents press council to preserve Barnhart Circle granite gutters as city seeks historic‑district signs

During public comment, Dana Fife spoke on behalf of Barnhart Circle neighbors and asked the council for transparency and stewardship of original granite gutter stones removed during a sewer project in the Fort Oglethorpe Historic District. "These granite gutter stones are part of that historic landscape... Historic materials should continue to be treated as historic materials and not as construction rubble," Fife said, asking that all removed materials be preserved, carefully handled and not repurposed outside the district.

In the city manager's report, Ms. Hugh responded that the city plans to salvage what can be reused and will repurpose appropriate materials — for example, building pillars with recovered bricks — while acknowledging that some stones buried under pavement for decades cannot be returned to their original locations. "What can be put back will be put back... there are plans to build pillars out of those bricks," Ms. Hugh told the council and asked staff to follow up with concerned residents.

Separately, staff presented two certificates of appropriateness (ordinances 2026‑30 and 2026‑31) for signs in the Fort Oglethorpe Historic District: a Welcome Center sign to improve wayfinding and a sign for the tank and polo field to extend a walking tour and hide electronic connections. Bobby Daniels described the signs as consistent with prior field‑house branding and helpful for visitors.

The ordinances were at first reading and will be voted on at the special called meeting on June 1.