Mayors Highlight Developments in Kennesaw and Acworth

KENNESAW — Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood and Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling sat down with Mike Linch, senior pastor of NorthStar Church, at this week’s Northwest Cobb Area Council meeting. The mayors provided updates on the latest developments in their cities, highlighting growth, community initiatives, and future projects.

Performing Arts Initiatives

Easterling, who moved to the city in 2003 and has been serving as mayor for nearly a decade, celebrated the recent grand opening of Piedmont Bank Amphitheater at Depot Park.

Easterling said the new amphitheater gives the community a place to come together.

While on stage, Easterling became emotional and later told the audience it was because of the declining health of his father, who is in hospice care.

Linch momentarily redirected the conversation to speak with Easterling about his father.

“I want my dad to know that I’ve done everything that I can to be who I am. Despite my upbringing, despite my poor circumstances, I want to give back (to the community),” Easterling said.

Kennesaw City Manager Jeff Drobney stepped in for the mayor, allowing him to gather his composure off stage.

Drobney emphasized the economic benefits of the new amphitheater, highlighting its role in driving renewal and development.

“For many people, they see the amphitheater as an opportunity to bring in music events and public performing arts. I’ve always seen it as an economic tool for us and for our community,” Drobney said.

Drobney added that the amphitheater project spanned over 10 years and cost about $12 million.

Allegood, who has served as mayor for 23 years, discussed the city’s collaboration with the Acworth Cultural Arts Center for a new black box theater at the historic Roberts School Community and Education Center. Allegood said the cultural arts group promised to bring over 100 different nights of events to the community in the upcoming year.

Allegood believes the performing arts are a crucial part of the community’s quality of life.

Supporting Small Businesses

Allegood also discussed the city’s “You’re Welcome in Acworth!” quality of life brand, which was developed in 2014 based on a survey of residents and visitors to enhance tourism.

The city is using that brand to develop a “You’re Welcome” survey via QR codes around the city. These QR codes will lead to a survey asking residents and visitors questions about what brought them to the Lake City, what they did and how they enjoyed it.

“We’re going to continue to gather all of this information and in doing so continue to be able to brand ourselves and create this wonderful destination,” Allegood said.

According to Allegood, tourism brought in $80 million to Acworth last year, which positively impacted local businesses.

“Measuring that impact is so important to make sure we keep our businesses very healthy and successful,” Allegood said.

Drobney added that Kennesaw has created a concierge service to assist new businesses along their journey from the permitting process to the ribbon cutting.

Kennesaw also put $2 million into consolidating community development departments into a single renovated building.

“When an individual or business is coming into the community, it’s now truly a one-stop shop where they can come in and go from A to Z, cradle to grave, rather than having to go to business licensing and planning and zoning and so forth,” Drobney said.

More Golf Carts and Inclusivity

Allegood highlighted the growth seen since Acworth’s transformation into a golf cart-friendly city in 2018. With nearly 400 golf carts and a growing annual parade, the city has developed 18 miles of dedicated golf cart streets in the downtown business district, Allegood said.

He added the city’s next step is to expand dedicated golf cart parking.

“We believe that within the next five years we will surpass Peachtree City in the number of golf carts,” Allegood said.

Joking that Kennesaw is not much of a golf cart city, Drobney shared the city’s efforts in promoting inclusivity, mentioning their collaboration with the Life Rolls On foundation, which aims to improve mental health through adaptive sports, and the creation of an inclusive skate park.

Kennesaw collaborated with the foundation recently to host an inclusive wheelchair motocross clinic for athletes of all abilities and ages.

“It’s truly amazing to see young people and adults who are in wheelchairs be able to come out and experience what an able bodied youth can do… To see the joy and the sheer smiles on their faces is amazing,” he said.

Drobney added that the city created the inclusive playground at Swift-Cantrell Park, on Old 41 Highway, to continue to make the community more accessible. The project began with residents wanting to donate money for a wheelchair swing but quickly evolved into an 18,000-square-foot, wheelchair-accessible playground. He said the playground is the largest of its kind in the state.

The goal of inclusivity is also fueled by some friendly competition between the two mayors.

“We followed in (Acworth’s) lead, we saw what they were doing and we said we’re going to try to do one better,” Drobney said.

Acworth has Horizon Field with its cushioned, rubberized turf designed for athletes with special needs.

Allegood said while the two cities are competitive, they also support each other, adding that over $1 million for the field came from Kennesaw.

“Both Kennesaw and Acworth share citizens. We’re the only city in Cobb County that has this great opportunity,” Allegood said. “We are competitive to make sure that we are developing the great quality of life for our citizens.”

Future Developments for 2025

Looking ahead, Drobney announced major road improvements in Kennesaw, including widening Cherokee Street and Ben King Road to create boulevards and putting in 10- to 12-foot-wide pedestrian paths to enhance connectivity and walkability in the downtown area.

A new public safety facility is also in the works to support the police department.

“Our police department is crammed into City Hall in an annex. It’s about time we give them the professional facility and support they need,” Drobney said.

In Acworth, Allegood shared plans for a Whataburger on Highway 41, a restaurant overlooking Logan Farm Park called Tap Town, expanding lake trails and The Logan development at Exit 278. The Logan, an 18-acre, mixed-use development, will include a 100,000-square-foot medical facility, about 470 apartments and 40 business spaces, Allegood said.

Allegood believes the new development will create a halo effect in the surrounding area, bringing in more businesses in the future.

Both mayors underscored the vital role of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funding in their cities’ growth.

“Since its inception, Acworth has received $155 million from SPLOST. Our community would not look the way it looks today without those dollars in those investments,” Allegood said.

Drobney echoed the sentiment, crediting SPLOST for financing key projects like the new amphitheater, public safety facility, and Depot Park in Kennesaw.