Tifton owns nearly 10 acres of former lumber yard at the southern edge of downtown, and four possible futures for it now exist on paper. None of them has been chosen. All four were drawn from what residents asked for, and residents mostly asked for a place they could visit for free. The city bought the land hoping it would eventually go back on the tax digest. Whatever plan comes next has to do both jobs.
A Supply Yard Since 1941
Short & Paulk Supply Company started in 1941 in an old warehouse along the railroad tracks on South Main Street. In its early years it sold building materials along with agricultural supplies and Diamond-T trucks, according to the company's own history. The site served as a transportation hub for lumber and agriculture. It sits beside an active railway and within walking distance of downtown and nearby neighborhoods.
In late 2024 three public bodies bought the 9.7-acre property together: the City of Tifton, the Tifton Urban Redevelopment Agency, known as TURA, and the Downtown Development Authority. The city's November 18, 2025 press release describes it as "the former Tifton location of the Short & Paulk Supply Company." The release also announced that the three partners had hired the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government to run a community-based planning process for the site. A grant from Georgia's Rural Center paid for it.
Mayor Julie Smith explained the purchase in a UGA Institute of Government article published August 28, 2026:
"It became very apparent that we needed to do better as a community and embrace this area versus just ignore it."
The same article puts the grant from Georgia's Rural Center at $100,000. That money pays for planning. No funding to build anything has been announced.
What the Room Asked For in February
The first public input session took place on February 17, 2026, inside a building on the Short & Paulk site. The Tifton Gazette reported that organizers posted images of possible uses around the room and asked attendees to mark their favorites with stickers. The boards showed four options:
- An outdoor amphitheater
- A commercial park combining retail, residential and green space
- An event or festival space that could be closed off from regular traffic
- An outdoor recreation area
Danny Bivins of the Institute of Government then asked each table to write down what they would want on the property, with one condition. It had to be somewhere they would want to go every week or even every day. Ideas included a museum of Tifton history, a space for younger residents and restaurants with outdoor seating. Attendees then sorted their favorite ideas onto boards labeled "Housing," "Events and Entertainment" and "Retail."
According to the Gazette, attendees leaned toward green space, more places to eat and family-friendly activities. Several suggested uses outside the given categories, such as job training or skills classes.
Housing and retail both had their own boards, and the commercial-park option put them on the same site. The night's strongest response went to space that isn't sold to anyone. That pull between the two runs through everything that came after.
Four Plans Built From Those Answers
The Institute of Government gathered more input through surveys, focus groups and one-on-one interviews. It then handed the material to James Schulte, a landscape architecture lecturer at UGA's College of Environment and Design. His community design studio class produced four master plans for the site.
The students started from a property that, in the article's words, included "several abandoned buildings, extensive concrete." Schulte said the site "had been planned before was obviously not for a park space." On a field trip to Tifton, the class toured the property, met with community members and studied train noise, drainage and where shade could go.
The renderings that came out of it include:
- Lighting and green space across the site
- A splash pad
- A mini-golf course
- An educational community garden
- Streetscapes linking the site to downtown, with gateways into it
The article says the family-friendly features came straight from community responses. Isabella Eastabrooks, a landscape architecture major from Ball Ground, described the goal as a space "where people can come and enjoy without having to pay."
One team made a design choice that anyone who has heard a freight train come through South Main will recognize. Rather than plant trees to hide the railway, they built it into the plan. Student Quin Pham, a landscape architecture major from Commerce, explained:
"We wanted to make the train an amenity rather than just putting up a bunch of trees that aren't going to really buffer the sound."
Mayor Smith said the concepts "had a unified theme, but they were all unique too."
The Second Job the Site Has to Do
The city's stated goal for the site goes further than a park. In the same August article, Mayor Smith described the property this way:
"The property could really be a catalyst if we can do some kind of public-private partnership and get it back on the tax digest to create an area right for development."
The mayor ties a return to the tax digest to a public-private partnership. Of the options on the February boards, the commercial park, with retail, residential and green space on one site, comes closest to pairing private development with public space. Restaurants with outdoor seating, an idea residents raised at their tables, also came up at the session alongside the free features the students later drew.
That is the decision now in front of the planners. Which mix of free space and private development they settle on has not been made public. Bivins framed the handoff in the UGA article: "The final plan belongs to the community because they created it."
Where Things Stand This Fall
The project has moved through these public steps so far:
- November 18, 2025: City, TURA and DDA announce the Institute of Government contract.
- January 2026: The city opens an online survey and says Institute of Government work will start February 17 through 19.
- February 17, 2026: First public input session on the site.
- April 17: The online survey closes, per the Gazette.
- May 14, 2026: The URA and Launch Tifton Team agenda lists an overview of Phase I and the student concepts as a presentation item, not a vote.
- August 28, 2026: UGA reports that the Short & Paulk Renaissance Project steering committee will review the student designs as it moves forward with developing the site.
As of late October, no preferred concept, adoption vote, construction budget or timeline has been announced. The City Council agendas for September 8, September 14, September 21 and October 19 don't list the project. The most recent Urban Redevelopment Agency agenda posted in the city's Agenda Center is dated July 16, 2026.
Where the Next Step Will Show Up
The next decisions will most likely come from the bodies that own the land. These are the places to watch:
- A new Urban Redevelopment Agency agenda. The URA heard the student concepts in May, so a Short & Paulk item on its next posted agenda would be the first sign of movement in months.
- A preferred concept from the steering committee. Watch whether the plan it picks leans on free features like the splash pad and garden, includes a site for private development, or includes both.
- Any mention of a private partner. The mayor tied the tax digest goal to a public-private partnership, and naming one would be the clearest sign of what gets built.
- The project's own channels. The Gazette directed residents to tiftonrsvp.com for project information. The city's Projects & Programs page is listed in its press release as the place to learn more, and the city has a Community Engagement Group email list that sends project news and survey invitations.
Mayor Smith said in August that city leaders want people "to feel like they had an opportunity to come and share." The survey has closed, but the steering committee's review is still underway, and the engagement list is how the city has been announcing each new chance to weigh in.
If you own property near the south end of downtown and wonder how a project like Short & Paulk could affect your street, Terri Roberts Branch follows these South Main plans closely and can walk you through what the latest steps mean. Request a Free Home Valuation to see where your property stands today, before the steering committee picks a direction.
