Ground broken for Radium Springs storm memorial

Jan. 22--ALBANY -- On the anniversary of a 2017 tornado that claimed the lives of five people in Dougherty County, ground was broken on a memorial to those victims as well as planned road improvements to the Radium Springs area.

The county held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Radium Springs memorial and renovation on Tuesday morning at the Radium Springs Gardens area site.

Given its history of floods, tornadoes and the damage sustained from Hurricane Michael, the Radium Springs area is no stranger to disaster. While lives and property were broken, spirits remained intact.

"This area has been devastated time after time," Dougherty County Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas said during remarks at the groundbreaking. "One thing that has always impressed me about Radium Springs and the people who live in Radium Springs is that they are some of the toughest people I have ever met.

"They didn't quit; they didn't stop; they helped each other."

By utilizing 12-foot-tall white columns, the memorial will commemorate the five lives lost during the storm. The names will be carved out of steel and wrapped around the column to represent materials ripped from homes during the storm.

"Their names will be etched in steel, but their memories will be forever etched in our hearts," Cohilas said.

Designed by Ron Huffman, senior principal of Wheeler Environment and Infrastructure Solutions, the memorial will also bring renovations to the gazebo at the gardens damaged during the storm.

A presentation was made at the ceremony of a $500,000 grant the county received from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank, or GTIB, to help in funding the reconstruction of Skywater and Azalea boulevards, as well as part of Camella Road. Funding needed beyond the grant will be derived from SPLOST V funds, and work will be completed by Oxford Construction.

The planned improvements are part of a commitment to bring much-needed improvements to Radium Springs, which have actually been in progress since shortly before the tornado hit.

"This area has gone without investment for too long," Cohilas said. "A lot of hard work is about to go into (what we are introducing)."

County officials said the grant received from GTIB last year is earmarked to improve safety, reduce wear-and-tear caused by potholes as well as repair damaged and eroded portions of the roadways. The project will reconstruct the existing, storm-damaged roadway with a 31-foot-wide curb-and-gutter feature for approximately a mile through a residential area.

It will cover about 6,000 feet of roadway, which includes Azalea and Skywater. A complete street, including bicycle lanes and sidewalks, will be built as part of the project.

Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler, County Administrator Michael McCoy and District 6 Dougherty Commissioner Anthony Jones were among those at the ceremony on Tuesday sharing their recollections of the tornado and its aftermath -- and remarking on the impact they hope the memorial will have in the years to come.

"Let us continue to remember the families of those who lost their lives and keep them in our prayers daily," Jones said.

The memorial construction is expected to be completed in roughly two months, while the rebuilding construction will take longer to complete. An official ribbon-cutting is expected to be scheduled once both projects are complete.

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