Historic home new hub of downtown development

A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday afternoon marked the grand opening of the relocated and renovated Head House near the downtown square. The historic home was constructed by Dr. Homer Head in 1909 with wood salvaged from the original Dahlonega Baptist Church, which was built back in 1841.
Now the revitalized structure will serve as the new headquarters for the Downtown Development Authority and Main Street Program, whose goal is to promote economic development in the city of Dahlonega.
The origins of the renovation project go back to 2018, when the City of Dahlonega acquired the Head House for a sum of $475,000 in order to protect the structure from further deterioration or even destruction. After consulting with Athens-based design firm Architectural Collaborative, the City Council voted unanimously in December of 2021 to approve a bid for renovation from Macallan Construction, with a guaranteed maximum price of $1,103,288.
Work on the project was originally scheduled to be completed by June of 2022, but a combination of inclement weather and supply chain issues delayed its completion until January.
One of the major challenges of the project was physically relocating the building and placing it on a brand new foundation; the house was shifted to the right of its original location in order to stabilize it and bring it more in line with other nearby homes on South Park Street.
“So obviously the major change is the foundation moving; that really shored up the structure of the house,” explained DDA Director Ariel Alexander as she summarized the extensive restoration effort.
“We had to go in and remove the previous restaurant equipment from when it was a restaurant in the early 2000s. So that was removed and cleaned out… we put in modern-day office equipment inside, and kept the historic exterior. The floors on the second floor are the original 1900s floors. They were able to be saved. We were able to save the original fireplaces. Even though the chimney was removed, the actual fireplace inside is still there. And then electrical and plumbing were all brought up to code,” Alexander said.
The second floor of the two-story building contains the Downtown Development Authority staff offices. The DDA will also retain one of the first-floor rooms as a meeting area, while the rest of the ground floor will be leased out as retail space.
DDA Chair Amy Thrailkill is proud of the completed project, which has allowed the Development Authority to move out of City Hall and into its own unique location.
“As a member of the DDA and now as the Chair—being a part of a project that aligns with DDA, and the Georgia Main Street’s vision, has been a great honor. The finished product advances the positive image of our beautiful downtown. Moving our DDA and Main Street staff to the building allows them to be more engaged with our downtown merchants, strengthening the promotion of our downtown area and promoting economic development,” Thrailkill said.
Alexander agrees that the new headquarters is a tremendous asset to the organization.
“We have a lot more office space, and then we have meeting space also, which is great. We didn’t have dedicated Development Authority space at City Hall. Oftentimes we met in the council chambers, which is a great meeting space, but it’s nice to have something so close and accessible for business owners if they need us right away. This location is going to allow us to have office hours,” Alexander explained.

GETTING TO BUSINESS

Alexander indicated that in addition to normal Monday through Friday business hours, the DDA is planning to set aside a special two-hour window on Fridays for local businesses to come in and voice their ideas and concerns.
As for the planned first-floor retail space, the DDA has only begun the process of selecting a tenant.
“The City Council has tasked the Development Authority with handling that project, so we are in the process of looking for a rental management company for the first year to kind of help us manage the first floor for a tenant. We haven’t selected a company yet, but we’re hoping to do that in the next few weeks,” Alexander said.
When asked if the DDA was looking for any particular type of business to share the new location with, Alexander said that while they are not accepting applications quite yet, a formal selection process will be initiated soon.
“The Development Authority Board has created a scale that they’re going to use to qualify tenants. Obviously we don’t want to make major changes to the building, since we just did so much work to get it right. And also we’d like to rank businesses that have a uniqueness to the square, something that we don’t necessarily have, to round out our retailer base. But we haven’t put any restrictions on tenant applications. That will come when we select a management company and advertise the space,” Alexander indicated.
Alexander believes that the DDA’s new home will assist in their mission of advancing the positive image of downtown Dahlonega.
“We want to be an accessible resource for current businesses and those prospective businesses that are hoping to move to Dahlonega. So just being in the center of downtown is very helpful in that. And then hopefully once we get a tenant on the first floor, that will catalyze even more economic development for this side of the square,” Alexander concluded.