MARSHALLVILLE, Ga. — A group of four in Marshallville say they’re working to bring businesses back to a once-thriving downtown.
"It’s a quaint, small town that used to have a lot of life," Charlie Griffis said as he described the area.
Griffis, a newcomer and commercial contractor, says he has a vision of what Marshallville's downtown could be.
"Attracting retail stores that specialize in home goods, antiques, etc. These jewels will come back to life and commerce will again return to Marshallville," he said.
He's not doing it alone. He says he, Shelley Turner, Larry Walker and Emiline Laughline have purchased eight buildings and have big plans for them. Turner has one of the few remaining businesses in town and has lived here for 50 years.
"It used to be a really busy, thriving business center down here, and now, these businesses are gone and it's vacant and in need of repair and they’re empty," she said.
Those vacancies may not last long, as one of those buildings has a new owner.
"Maria McConnell is going to have a business here where she’ll have interior design work and she's going to sell furniture, so we’re probably two weeks away from her being able to open her store," he said.
Larry Walker, another partner in the project, is a Perry attorney and a longtime Georgia state legislator. He says he felt the area was worth the investment
"Once we have the buildings here for people to buy or rent, I think they’re going to want to do that. We've already seen the evidence of that," Walker said.
Ultimately, the partners say honoring the place where the peach industry began is most important to them...
"We're trying to honor that by naming the buildings that we're going to renovate after different varieties of peaches and, again, restoring the legacy of this wonderful little town," Griffis said.
The new business will be open in downtown Marshallville in the coming weeks.