THOMASVILLE — A design draft of a Marriott hotel planned for property at South Dawson Street and Remington Avenue will be unveiled Friday at a called Thomasville Payroll Development Authority meeting.

The 8:30 a.m. meeting is at the Thomasville-Thomas County Chamber of Commerce VOOM Room.

Southern Lodging, the Thomasville company awarded the project, established a committee of local residents with expertise in historic preservation and related design, among other areas.

Architects retained by Southern Lodging designed the concept to be presented, with input from the local design committee.

“This architect group has done more than 300 Marriott hotels,” said Shelley Zorn, PDA executive director, adding that architects will have met three times with the local design committee by Friday.

Mary Lawrence Lang, a committee member and Thomasville Landmarks executive director, said it was made clear to architects and the general contractor that the charge of the design committee is to provide advisory input on the architectural details of the building.

“From a professional perspective, I am not only interested in the concept which will likely change when it gets to construction, I am interested in what ultimately gets built,” Lang said.

She said that during the last 40 years, Landmarks’ revolving fund purchased and saved more than 30 derelict houses and invested millions of dollars into revitalizing the nearby once-blighted Warren-Love and Tockwotton historic districts that today are once again among city’s most desirable properties.

“The (hotel) lot is situated in a transitional area between residential and commercial neighborhoods. While it has been a commercial site for over 50 years, use as a hotel increases the intensity of development and opportunity for unintended negative impacts,” Lang said. “There are creative ways to mitigate those impacts if they are proactively identified and acknowledged in design.”

Beyond designing an architecturally-compatible building that combines proper scale, height, massing and detail, Lang said, it is imperative that the overall site be designed to maintain the livability of the surrounding historic neighborhoods that “give the site its incredible value.”

Zorn said the Friday meeting will be an unveiling of the draft and the PDA will not vote.

“This is merely an unveiling of the draft,” she said.

Zorn said the Southern Lodging design committee requested changes in window sizes. Also requested was a reduction in signage so it blends into the building.

People attending the Friday meeting will have a chance to speak. Speakers must sign in and speak for no longer than three minutes. Comments will be limited to the design. Zorn said comments about past actions on the land and project will not be allowed.

“The topic Friday will be design,” Zorn said. “It’s education and unveiling.”

The PDA, she said, wants to give the public a chance to see the draft design before a PDA draft design vote at a Monday, Feb. 25, PDA meeting at 8:30 a.m. at the chamber.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820