Could a civic center be in Coweta County's future?

While a massive convention center may be out of the question, the Coweta County Board of Commissioners Tuesday afternoon decided to build a large, multi-purpose building at the county's new fairgrounds on Pine Road.

The building will be 14,000 square feet and be used not only during the fair, but year-round.

Assistant Administrator Eddie Whitlock was asking the commissioners to approve the preliminary architectural fees for the complex when the discussion turned to the multi-use facility.

Originally, the plans called for a 14,000-square-feet exhibit hall and a 7,000-square-feet multi-purpose hall, but Commissioner Vernon "Mutt" Hunter said the county needed to refigure the dimensions.

"There's just not a whole lot of people in the county any more who show cattle," Hunter said.

Hunter advocated changing the dimensions of the hall to make it more user-friendly for everybody in the county. The hall could be used to stage meetings by the Coweta County Convention and Visitors' Bureau or even be used for the arts, as Commission Chairman Jim McGuffey suggested.

Commissioner Lawrence Nelms agreed with Hunter, but said the county needed to move slowly if it wanted a true civic center.

"If you're talking about a full-fledged civic center, I suggest you study the traffic patterns out there," he said.

McGuffey agreed that a lot of thought would have to be given to a civic center, but said the growth rate of the county dictated building bigger structures to serve more of the population.

"The little buildings don't help you when you need the big buildings," he said.

Commissioner Robert Wood added that many large groups head out of the county to Peachtree City to hold their meetings since the county does not have a large enough facility.

After further discussion, the commissioners agreed to cut the size of the show barn from 15,000-square-feet to 10,000-square-feet and increase the size of the exhibit hall from 7,000-square-feet to 14,000-square-feet. The board also awarded the architectural services to Harrison Architects in Newnan for $48,000.