JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Johnson City Mayor Todd Fowler spoke to members of a local Kiwanis Club chapter on Wednesday to outline several ongoing initiatives and lay out his vision for the city’s future.
Fowler, the meeting’s guest of honor, presented the city’s progress and took questions from members of the audience.
Fowler said the Board of Commissioners’ first priority is the Sevier Center’s renovation and the relocation of residents to a new project on South Roan Street. According to Fowler’s presentation, the city spent $400,000 on just improving the building for current.
Fowler also spoke about the ongoing work along the West Walnut Street Development corridor, including outlining an expansive dream for the area. Once the groundwork is completed, Fowler said he hopes a new parking garage would give residents of the area much-needed parking space and provide an anchor near the east side of ETSU’s campus.
“I would like it to be walkable, bike-able, drivable, all of those things for people to access restaurants, hotels, entertainment and all those kind of things that in downtown Johnson City and make that a beautiful place to drive up and down,” Fowler said. “Something that would attract people from outside Johnson City, plus be something great for our citizens.”
The price of the project stands around $41 million according to Fowler, with much of the difference from the project’s initial estimates coming from the discovery of obstacles like decades-old trolley tracks being found underground.
Another major project that Fowler hopes to see is the creation of a third park space on city-held property that previously held Harman Ice. Fowler said his vision for the lot is similar to Founders Park and King Commons, a drainage-oriented green space that serves as a destination for locals and visitors alike.
“We know it’s wastewater, but do we want to put culverts underneath and build things on it or do we need another park there?” Fowler asked. “And that’s one of these decisions we need to make in a meeting soon down the road.”
The newly-appointed mayor’s vision extended to public transport as he told Kiwanis members he would like to see a hop-on hop-off trolley system that runs a loop from the furthest corner of the project to the heart of downtown.
Fowler was also thankful that the city ran a very tight ship while weathering the economic impacts of COVID-19. Reduced spending and cautious revenue estimates, Fowler said, meant the city required the sale of no new bonds to finance W Walnut’s growing price tag.
