Auburn Shell Toomer Parkway talks get colorful

Talk over issues surrounding Shell Toomer Parkway will continue at tonight’s meeting of the Auburn City Council.

A group of Auburn University art students are planning to speak in defense of preserving Shell Toomer Parkway at the Auburn City Council meeting, which
begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 141 N. Ross St. in Auburn.

Development along Shell Toomer Parkway, including projects headed by Cleveland Brothers Construction and Auburn developer Tom Hayley, has raised concerns among some residents about preserving the parkway. The parkway is viewed as an extension of Chewacla State Park.

The students plan to speak during the citizens’ communication section of the meeting, art professor Debora Myles said.

“This is a culmination of a huge project in which they generated pieces of protest art, and they chose to do the subject of Shell Toomer Parkway,” she said.

Each year, Myles requires her students to choose a topic for their projects.

Most of the time, she said, students each decide on an individual project. But this year, when Myles used the example of artwork she created in connection with the parkway, the students jumped on the idea.

They each created artwork, and the two classes designed and sold T-shirts for the cause.

Shell Toomer Parkway leads from Chewacla State Park to South College Street. Citizens for the Preservation of Shell Toomer Parkway, a group of residents, most of them living in nearby neighborhoods, has expressed concern about development along the road.

The students donated the proceeds from the T-shirts to the CPSTP. They plan to wear the T-shirts and speak to the council about their concerns, Myles said.

“The idea was to try to get as many people as we could to show up in T-shirts to create a presence in a forum where they can speak their opinions,” she said.

Myles said she was impressed with the enthusiasm and effort her students put into the project.

“It was this fantastic experience for me and for them because they were all working together,” she said. “I don’t know if it will accomplish something immediately, but just the fact that people who do not live out here (along the parkway) are concerned, maybe it will open their minds to hear ideas.”

Incentives package

Also to be discussed at the meeting is a package of incentives for an unnamed industry to locate in Auburn Technology Park West.

“Usually, that means… that the company is very interested in coming to the city and we would expect to make an announcement very soon,” City Manager Charlie Duggan said.

The industry would mean a capitol investment of $6.3 million and would create 20 jobs.