BY CINDY CARSON

Anderson Herald-Bulletin Staff Reporter

Imagine a green and attractive area with comfortable benches and shade trees, a Town Center right in the middle of downtown Anderson.

"I'm seeing a place, a collection point, in our community, an area that used to exist many years ago with the old county courthouse," said Mayor J. Mark Lawler on Wednesday. "The courthouse became sort of a social point, a place where people came together.

"This will be a gathering place for people coming here to be part of the arts at the Paramount, for those who are coming in for recreation at the YMCA. I'm envisioning a place where we can have activities that bring groups together, a place that creates a synergism that people want to be part of."

It's a concept about to become reality on Meridian Street. Although it has been in the talking stage for a long time, the city does not yet have any firm architectural drawings to show what the Meridian Street commons will look like.

City economic leaders on Monday will hold the first of several meetings with Fortune Management and other downtown business owners to discuss exactly what the Town Center's role will be, which, in turn, will determine how it must look.

"We're looking at moving the 'Three Graces' sculpture to that area," said Steve Fultz, director of the city's Economic Development Department. "The buildings that are remaining both to the north and south, once rehabilitated, will face into that town center instead of facing east as they do now. So they'll be facing the Town Center from the north, south and west. It should make those properties very valuable.

"There will be a lot of green space. We're thinking about some kind of platform for performances. It's going to be pretty exciting."

The commons area will have benches for guests.

"We're considering closing 12th Street from Jackson to Main." Fultz said on Tuesday. "That's very tentative pending our research and study on that to see from a traffic engineering standpoint if it's a feasible idea."

The renovation by Fortune Management on six downtown buildings will provide Class A office and commercial space with luxurious condominiums on the upper stories of buildings around Town Center.

"Once this weather breaks for us, they should be getting out there to start work," Fultz said. "So with the Florentine concept and the rehab of these buildings by Fortune, we're probably looking at six to nine months to seeing some real results on this."

Why are there no drawings?

Before commissioning an architect, the city first had to find out whether funding existed to make it worth investing in detailed plans and drawings, Fultz said.

During initial meetings about what the Florentine concept, or making the area an arts and cultural center, would entail, K.R. Montgomery & Associates architects worked with the city.

"They provided some general drawings, but everything is still very, very roughed out," Fultz said.