Commercial and Residential Locksmiths in Emerson

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Local builder Womack Commercial was selected to build two structures at the new Winding Waters Riverfront RV Resort, now under construction in Emerson. The Womack Commercial team is building a large clubhouse and poolside cabana for the enjoyment of future guests.

“We are honored to be selected as one of the contractors helping to build this incredible attraction,” said Matt Womack, CFO of Womack Commercial. “The RV park is a unique destination within itself, but it’s also the perfect launching pad to explore all that Cartersville and the greater northwest Georgia area has to offer.”

Slated to open in early 2023, the luxury RV resort is located along the banks of the Etowah River on Hwy. 41. The park includes 252 sites, including cabins and glamping tents, and exceptional amenities. The central amenity area is situated around the resort-style pool with waterslide, splash pool and lazy river. The large clubhouse and cabana under construction by Womack Custom Homes is located adjacent to this central amenity area.

Also included in the impressive amenity list at Winding Waters is a firepit, playground, dog park, picnic area with gazebo, bocce ball courts and a multi-sport court ideal for pickleball or basketball games. The resort also offers an abundance of green space, ponds and river access for a multitude of water activities.

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For more information on the Winding Waters Riverfront RV Resort, visit www.WindingWatersRV.com.

Based in Cartersville, Georgia, Womack Commercial is a four-generation contracting firm with more than 25 years of experience working on both residential and commercial design-build and renovation projects. To learn more, visit www.WomackCustomHomes.com.

About Womack Commercial

Womack Commercial is a member of the Womack Construction/Real Estate companies. The companies started in Cartersville, Georgia four generations ago and brothers Matt and Stephen Womack carry on their great-grandfather’s dream. With more than 25 years of experience in the construction industry spanning residential, commercial, remodeling and design-build projects, Womack Commercial focuses on light commercial new builds, buildouts and remodels. With a customer-first philosophy, the builder follows honest principles and has respect for its customers, employees and community. For more information, call 678-776-6872 or visit www.WomackCustomHomes.com.

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EMERSON, GA — Since plans for a 'Hunger Games' amusement park are now off the table for consideration, developers for the site in question aren't giving up on an idea to transform the area into a mixed-use community in southern Bartow County.

Jacoby Development is eyeing the 1,150-acre piece of property along Interstate 75 just south of the Etowah River in Emerson. Villages at Red Top would be near sites such as Allatoona Lake, Red Top Mountain State Park and the popular LakePoint Sporting Community.

According to plans on the Sandy Springs-based developer's website, the project would include 2,000 residential units and roughly 1 million square feet of commercial and retail space. These components would be housed in three distinct "village environments": Etowah Village, the so-called town center featuring a hotel, shopping, dining and entertainment district, offices and residential uses, festival green and a riverwalk; Lakeside Village, an active adult residential community with lakes, clubhouses, walking trails and a golf course; and Hillside Village, a community of luxury homes with "panoramic views of the Etowah Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains, and hiking trails along the ridge tops," according to the company's stie.

Broken down, the Etowah Village would have 609 multi-family units, 255 single-family homes, a 100-key hotel and 290,000 square feet of commercial space. Lakeside Village would be packed with 947 single-family homes for residents age 55 and older and 80,000 square feet of retail space while Hillside Village would have 192 residences.

Other components are 150,000 square feet of medical office space, 50,000 square feet of gateway retail space, open space and hiking trails, the golf course with a club house and a riverwalk trail.

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The area in question was formerly being eyed to develop into a "totally immersive, technology driven theme park drawing on the expertise of Hollywood's leading visual effects professionals," according to documents filed in 2015 with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

AVATRON Park's plans called for the project to include up to two hotels, retail operations and a music performance venue, according to the initial Developments of Regional Impact filing. The plan, however, fell through, as one of the key partners had to suspend its participation in the project.

Jacoby Development's latest proposal would most likely have to go through the DR review process. DRI's are described as large-scale projects that would have ripple effects beyond the jurisdictional boundaries in which they reside. The process requires each of these developments to be reviewed by the regional commission district it falls in, which in this case would be the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission.

You can learn more about Villages at Red Top by visiting Jacoby Development's website.

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Image via Shutterstock

When you live in Atlanta and get assigned to review a country-cooking spot up Lake Allatoona way, and invite a friend and her 15-year-old son to come along, you don’t expect them to text back: “We love that place!”

As it turns out, Doug’s Place Restaurant, a Southern meat-and-three diner just off I-75 in Emerson, is a favorite spot of my friends, Jodi and Sam, who reside in Jasper but spend a fair amount of time on the highway, taking care of business in Atlanta or shuttling to ballgames.

On the recent Friday afternoon I met them at Doug’s, they were in fact headed to Sam’s baseball game. So what better way for the East Cobb Braves catcher/second baseman to build up his stamina than with some hearty, rib-sticking Doug grub?

Fried okra. Sliced tomatoes. Chunks of fresh cantaloupe. And country-fried steak with creamy milk gravy for the win!

Doug’s is a rather ramshackle-looking, family-style joint where you are likely to find oversize pickups and Harleys in the parking lot. On one visit, I sat next to a gray-haired lunch bunch (I’m guessing it was a church group), where the talk ranged from “How do you cook your turnips?” to “What do you think about the new ‘low-water’ toilets?”

Moving along …

Let’s just say Doug’s may not look like much. (Think: classic greasy spoon with red-vinyl booths, old family photos, lots of tchotchkes.) But any lack of creature comforts won’t amount to a hill of beans when you see the prices ($7.44 for a meat and three) and taste the victuals (not stellar, but solid).

Owner Melissa Ferguson, 66, told me in a phone interview that the building dates from around 1900. It was built as a general store to serve the surrounding community of mineral miners. Her late husband, Doug, bought it in 1994 and ran it until his death in 2007.

A picturesque red barnlike structure with a Coca-Cola sign on the exterior, Doug’s appears to have been cobbled and recobbled like an old shoe, so there are lots of nooks and crannies, hidden alcoves and a front porch where vegetables from a nearby farm are sold.

Should you happen to find yourself headed to the lakes and mountains of North Georgia, stuck in interstate traffic or just plain hungry, this Bartow County dive, about 45 minutes north of downtown Atlanta, is worth a stop. (If you were a fan of the pinto-bean-and-cornbread fare of the late, great Bobby and June's Kountry Kitchen on 14th Street, you'll be smitten.)

And if you are a regular, you won’t get bored. I stopped by two days running, once for lunch and once for supper, and was happily surprised to see the menu had changed considerably between visits. (There’s even a designated phone line for calling ahead to see what’s cookin’. See the info box.)

Biscuits are made fresh every day, and chicken comes many ways: with dumplings; baked and paired with cornbread dressing; fried.

As a Southern boy, I’m fairly particular about my fried bird, and I’m happy to report that my breast and drumstick passed muster: crispy, not overbreaded, perhaps in need of a little salt when I dug down to the white meat. Paired with macaroni and cheese (the loose, saucy kind) and a dish of nicely seasoned turnips, it was the stuff of childhood memories.

The dumplings were comforting, in a wet, stirred-to-smithereens kind of way. I liked the chicken and dressing, too, though the shredded meat could have used a little more juice.

Some other “meats” you might find at Doug’s are fried chicken livers, meatloaf, salmon patties, smother-fried pork chops, etc. There are chicken tenders, all-you-can-eat catfish on Friday nights, burgers, patty melts, hot dogs and barbecue sammies.

Now let’s discuss the veggies.

Some — greens, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash and rutabagas — are fresh.

I like the way the kitchen chops yellow squash into cubes, coats it with cornmeal and fries it like okra. Clever. The green beans are canned, and they taste like it.

Ferguson tells me the creamed corn, which the restaurant is famous for, is frozen fresh and bought from a supplier. It ain’t Kevin Gillespie’s fatback-fried Silver Queen corn, that’s for sure. It had the sweet-soupy texture of some grocery-store corn, but I liked it anyway.

And Sam, well … Sam liked pretty much everything. He polished off the country-fried steak before I could nab a bite. He smiled when I announced it was National Macaroni and Cheese Day. “It’s gotten so it’s National Something Day everyday,” he mused.

National Meat-and-Three Day? If so, I know where to go.

DOUG’S PLACE RESTAURANT

6 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Tuesdays, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays. 696 Ga. 293, Emerson, Ga. 770-382-9063; menu line: 770-382-8069. Facebook: Doug's Place.

Recommended dishes: Fried chicken, turnips, fried squash, biscuits, strawberry cobbler.

Dec. 8, 2021 - The Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power) has selected Emerson, a global software, technology and engineering leader, to modernize and optimize operations at its Wansley Unit 9 combined cycle power plant. MEAG Power’s investment is critical for the continued reliable delivery of competitive wholesale electricity to member communities across the state of Georgia. Emerson’s Ovation software and technologies will help to digitally transform the Georgia plant through more flexible operations, improved process efficiency and enhanced cybersecurity.

The 500-megawatt Wansley natural gas-fueled power station is an essential part of MEAG Power’s diverse generation portfolio–delivering 69% emissions-free power–but obsolete generation controls have impacted the plant’s availability and financial performance. Dependable, flexible operations are critical to meeting fast-changing market demands and the region’s growing power needs. To support the reliability and diversity of MEAG Power’s generation portfolio as it transitions to an even cleaner portfolio, Emerson will upgrade the Wansley Unit 9 control system to a modern, integrated Ovation solution.

“Natural gas generation is a crucial part of our diverse energy mix that will play a meaningful role as we transition to a higher percentage of non-emitting generation,” said Steve Jackson, MEAG Power’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. “Modernizing the Wansley Unit 9 combined cycle plant with Emerson’s proven, advanced Ovation automation platform will enable us to continue providing reliable and competitively priced power to our 49 Participant communities, ensuring long-term success.”

As part of the contract, Emerson will replace the legacy balance-of-plant, steam turbine controls, gas turbine controls, as well as the generator excitation and burner management and vibration monitoring systems at Wansley Unit 9 with a unified Ovation automation platform. Incorporating Emerson’s condition monitoring solution into the control system will translate into greater visibility of asset health. An advanced power application will use predictive model-based control software to optimize operational flexibility and process efficiency by managing steam temperature during load changes created by renewable energy variability.

Robust cybersecurity technologies are integral to Emerson’s comprehensive solution that is designed to enhance and secure operations at Wansley Unit 9.

“MEAG Power’s forward-thinking approach to meeting future capacity and energy requirements balances the stability of natural gas power generation with the variability of renewable resources,” said Bob Yeager, president of Emerson’s power and water business. “Our advanced, integrated platform of digitally transformative software and technologies will optimize the operations at the Wansley natural-gas fired unit, enabling more reliable and efficient delivery of energy to their member partners.”

The Wansley Unit 9 modernization project is expected to be completed in 2022.

Emerson has been ranked the leading distributed control systems provider for the global power generation industry, according to Omdia.¹

^{1Omdia, Distributed Control Systems Report, 2020. Market share based on revenue. Results are not an endorsement of Emerson. Any reliance on these results is at the third-party’s own risk.}

Emerson (NYSE: EMR), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global technology and engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and residential markets. Our Automation Solutions business helps process, hybrid and discrete manufacturers maximize production, protect personnel and the environment while optimizing their energy and operating costs. Our Commercial and Residential Solutions business helps ensure human comfort and health, protect food quality and safety, advance energy efficiency and create sustainable infrastructure.

The Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia is a nonprofit, statewide generation and transmission organization. Recognized as one of the leading joint action agencies in the country, MEAG Power is among the top public power companies nationwide in terms of annual net generation, megawatt-hour sales and electric revenue. Its diverse, clean energy portfolio – delivering 69% emissions-free energy in 2020–compares favorably with both the state and national averages. Created by the Georgia General Assembly in 1975, MEAG Power provides reliable, competitive wholesale electricity to its 49 member communities (Participants), who own their local distribution systems, through take-or-pay contracts. MEAG Power also monitors and advocates on energy issues at the state and federal levels on behalf of its Participants.

AVATRON Park was slated to be constructed along 712 acres in southern Bartow County.

EMERSON, GA -- Plans to bring an amusement park that would have included attractions from "The Hunger Games" to north Georgia have been placed on hold.

That's according to an open letter released by AVATRON Park Chairman David Garrett III, which said after two years of planning and fundraising, the much-anticipated project is "closing its doors."

The reason for this sudden abandonment of plans? According to Garrett, one of the key partners in the venture was forced to suspend its participation in the project.

"While many would encourage us to look at this as simply a timing situation, we are of the shared belief that no more time can be given or pushed back," he said. "Therefore, the AVATRON project is being placed on hold indefinitely."

Garrett went on to say organizers were grateful for the support and hospitality shown by Bartow County residents and stakeholders.

"The leadership in Bartow County and Georgia did everything possible to aid our efforts and we grew to treasure all that is so special about this wonderful community," the company said. "If this is goodbye, we thank you one last time for your generosity and belief in AVATRON. If this is a ”not-yet” situation, then we thank you for your patience and understanding."

Records from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ Developments of Regional Impact show the park would have been situated along 712 acres on Paga Mine Road in Emerson, which sits just south of Cartersville.

According to the company’s DRI filing with the state, AVATRON Park was billed as a “totally immersive, technology driven theme park drawing on the expertise of Hollywood’s leading visual effects professionals.”

Plans called for the project to include up to two hotels, retail operations and possibly a music performance venue, according to the initial DRI filing with the state.

The company coins the development as a next-generation theme park “built on the crossroads of where entertainment meets fantasy and perception becomes reality.”

Attractions in development for the park would have also featured newly created intellectual property, along with high-profile gaming and movie industry intellectual property including Lionsgate’s cultural phenomenon, The Hunger Games.

Lionsgate had announced its licensing, for the first time in North America, of The Hunger Games, Step Up and Now You See Me franchises as part of their partnership agreement with AVATRON.

Graphic via AVATRON