The Future of Athens

On February 19th 2004 a meeting took place at the Joshua Bates Centre. The meeting was organized by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and the Athens Township. The meeting was to develop a vision of Athens in the future, and to identify potential projects that might be pursed in support of economic and community development. Some of the most important topics were discussed about land use, sewer and water services, trying to expand tourism and more activities for young people.

One of the major topics talked about was tourism. Some events that may attract people to Athens would be sports shows held by the Snowmobile and Lions Club. Tourism would be a key economic driver, capitalizing on the “natural” assets of the region like the development of ecotourism, improved accommodations, Communities in Bloom, murals, sufficient parking and heritage signage. The main Street would be vibrant, supporting a variety of commercial enterprises and new commercial space would be developed.

More activities for the youth are being planned, they are considering creating an indoor swimming pool for the youth and families from Athens. Athens already has a variety of sports facilities like soccer fields and baseball fields both at Centre ‘76 and the public school, basketball courts at the high school and public school and a new outdoor rink and a parking lot to play road hockey at Center ‘76.

Some main concerns are, making sure there is affordable housing available for the seniors, keeping Athens District High school maintained and looking good. Committees also would like more advertising to have people more aware of Cornfest and Farmersville (Steam Fair). Residents want new mural created and to have the older ones maintained.

After assessing where they were as a community and where they would like to go, the participants offered ideas for potential projects to help move their vision for Athens forward. After the potential projects were identified, participants were asked to identify their personal priorities. Each person was giving 3 stickers( red-3 points, blue-2 points, and green -1 point). They were asked to put the red sticker beside the project that was their personal top priority. The blue sticker was for their second priority, and the green sticker was to represent their third priority.

Project	1st Priority	2nd Priority	3rd Priority	Total People	Total Score
Develop a strategy to engage youth	6	11	7	24	47
Form a LACAC	1	3	3	7	12
Establish a Museum	1	4	16	21	27
Water and Sewer Strategy	32	6	4	42	112
Land-use: Planning and Sustainability Strategy	15	15	7	37	82
Tourism Strategy	6	5	7	18	35
More Community Consultations	2	5	6	13	22

Link to Athens Tomorrow - Town Hall Meeting - Full Report
(Microsoft Word format)