DALTON, Ga. — For decades, Lee Printing was a vital part of downtown Dalton, and the site of the Lee Printing building could soon once again be a hub for the area. 

The Lee Printing building was donated to the city two years ago and demolished shortly after. Now the City Council has given the go ahead to two separate but interrelated arts and culture projects that could revitalize the site at 101 S. Hamilton St.

Dalton residents could notice the first changes by December. That’s when the Leadership Dalton-Whitfield Alumni Association and the 1,000 Words Public Project, a community group trying to get more art in public places in Dalton, expect to have a large, interactive sculpture up at the corner of the property on Hamilton Street at the entrance to the parking deck.

“This began when we (the alumni association) started talking with 1,000 Words about what we could do to help them bring art to downtown,” said Dana Holsomback, co-chair of the alumni association. “We had so many people to contribute to this. We got materials donated from Shaw Industries and Mohawk Industries as well as Brown Printing.”

The sculpture is being created from those donated machine parts by Birmingham, Ala.-based artist Royal Miree, who specializes in “kinetic” sculpture.

“It will be suspended on air by chains connected to steel poles suspended in concrete,” said Holsomback. “So the whole sculpture will move back and forth. And it’s also got these sails on it that will move as well.”

The idea is that people won’t just look at the sculpture but be able to touch it and make it swing and sway. The sculpture will be seven feet long, five feet wide and nine feet tall.

Holsomback says that using the industrial parts also ties the sculpture to the city’s history.

The sculpture will be just a few yards away from the downtown parking deck, which is the site of another 1,000 Words project, where different community groups and schools are painting murals on the columns.

It will also be just a few yards away from a new stage that will be built on the property, part of a project that will develop the site into a location for downtown concerts, festivals and parties.

“This came together through the efforts of several different organizations and individuals who went through training by Thrive 2055 in Chattanooga,” said Amanda Brown, executive director of the Creative Arts Guild.

Thrive 2055 brings together government officials and business leaders from 16 counties in and around Chattanooga to better plan for the region’s future.

Thrive 2055, in partnership with the Lyndhurst Foundation, ArtsBuild and the Southeast Tennessee Development District, formed the Thriving Communities project to help local communities use art to spur economic development. As part of that project, Dalton received a $20,000 grant from the Lyndhurst Foundation.

“We did a survey of what our community wanted, and there was a lot of feedback that people wanted more outdoor festivals and concerts,” Brown said. “They wanted regular activities in a centralized location, a central gathering place.”

“We are installing a stage, picnic tables and some sun shades to provide shade to the picnic tables,” Brown said. “We’ll also be doing a mural. There will also be some other seating spaces.”

The space will be managed by the Downtown Dalton Development Authority (DDDA), and Brown says that both the Creative Arts Guild and the DDDA will be holding events there.

“But we just really want to showcase what the space is capable of. We want to see events from the entire community held there,” she said.

In addition to the DDDA and the Creative Arts Guild, the stage project also brought together 1,000 Words, Dalton State College and the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia.

“We are doing this with almost all private money,” said Community Foundation President David Aft.

In addition to allowing the use of the site, the city of Dalton will be building concrete pads for the stage and the picnic tables. But that is the only government spending currently planned for the project.

Brown says plans call for the project to be finished and ready to host events by March 2017.