Alternate Funding for Canton Corridor Sought

According to The Atlanta Journal Constitution, District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell is proposing a unique funding plan that would help to pay for a dozen of 38 suggested targets for renovation along the Canton Road Corridor and greater Cobb County.

The four mile stretch of road between the Marietta city limits and Cherokee County, is the business heartland of Northeast Cobb County.

Due to dilapidated buildings, abandoned storefronts and box stores have long shown that a heart transplant for the area is necessary.

With the , getting funding to revitalize the corridor is now problematic. Birrell's suggestion is a revolving fund, or "gap financing:" this plan would non-profit organization that can accept money from the Development Authority of Cobb County and then loan that money out to businesses as an incentive to relocate in the corridor.

"We hope this will be a kind of economic development of our own in the northeast corridor," Frank Wigington, president of the Northeast Cobb Business Association, told the AJC.

Is this alternative funding plan going to change the fortunes of the Canton Road Corridor? Tell us in the comments!