Tucked away in the deep South of Georgia lies the city of Moultrie. Typical to small historical towns in this area, the core of the downtown district is much the same as it was decades ago. Downtown Moultrie is complete with the historic Colquitt County Courthouse Square located in the center of Downtown and with buildings dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. However, due to commercial activity and growth shift to an area off the bypassing east-west highway nearby, the Downtown area showed the results of years of neglect. The sidewalks were patched and cracking, concrete curbs were uneven and barely visible from street over-paving, and the streets pavements were a patchwork of repairs. Handicapped ramps had been forced into the sidewalks to meet government mandates. The variety of existing street trees was inappropriate for the scale and the width of the sidewalks. The proximity to the buildings caused many of the trees to be sheared, creating trees that had awkward sizes and shapes. Building facades equally reflected fade and loss of energy. Merchants complained that their storefronts and signs had become hidden by overgrown vegetation. Basically, the Downtown has lost its vitality and business was suffering. In 1998, a group of business owners threatened to pull their establishments out of Downtown if steps were not taken to improve this Historic District. As a result, the office of Sommer & Williams, a landscape architecture firm located in nearby Thomasville, Georgia was called in to assist in applying for a Federally Funded transportation Enhancement Grant for Downtown Streetscape Rehabilitation Projects. Shortly thereafter, the city of Moultrie learned that it would be awarded the TE Grant and plans went underway to collect the required matching funds. With funds available, the revitalization of nine inner city blocks and Courthouse Square was possible. Now, four years later, the rehabilitation of Downtown Moultrie has become a model for future streetscape projects in the state of Georgia. The office Sommer & Williams was chosen to design and to oversee the project through the completion of construction. Working closely with city and county officials as well as the Georgia Department of Transportation, the potential project area was outlined and an estimated timeline was developed. The first step in recreating the vitality of Downtown Moultrie was to take an inventory of the existing conditions and assess which aspects were most in need of improvements. Luckily, the existing storm drainage system was working well except for a few catch basins that needed repair and the infrastructure to connect additional streetlights was existing. A traffic signal improvement project was underway under a separate contract so the two projects were coordinated in order to minimize the impacts of construction on everyday downtown business. Furthermore, a survey of the existing conditions was made and from that it was apparent that the site offered no major constraints. A team of designers began the process of compiling ideas and conceptual designs. Numerous meetings were set up with city and county officials, Georgia Department of Transportation representatives, the Main Street Office and the Downtown Merchants Association to review and comment on the various concepts. Items such as sidewalk materials, traffic flow, parking spaces, pedestrian safety, and street tree selections. Timing of the work and interim access to stores were important items of discussion in the design process. S & W?EUR??,,????'???s aim also was to establish the site specific design elements. Since the average existing sidewalk width was in excess of 15 feet, it was determined to arrange the walk into a pedestrian lane and an amenity lane. This was accomplished with paving stone striping. Since light colors are those used for decorative trim on buildings or street pavement markings to bring out detail as the dominant visible appearance factor, the same principle was applied in the sidewalk pavement. To add some interest to the design, the area pavements or darker color pavers were set at 45 degrees to the linear striped pavers and, voila, the effect was the theme for this project?EUR??,,????'???s paving work. The selection of pavers throughout the project was chosen not only for their aesthetic value, and more importantly, for their longevity and ease of repair without showing patching. Site furnishings such as benches, trash receptacles and bicycle racks were selected based on scale and design. Only one color was chosen to have a continuous simplicity. Sidewalk bulb-outs were located in the mid-block for pedestrian crossings between stores. A curbed trench was bridged by a metal gate, which allows storm water runoff to flow past. The more common corner bulb-out was discarded after consideration due to the cost factor of revising the storm drainage basins located at those intersections. Also these bulb-outs are often a hindrance for large trucks and emergency vehicles to making turns. Trees were set in pits with large opening cast iron tree gates. The outside of each planting pit was lined with a root control fabric. Trees were selected for their historic sense of belonging and the trees appropriate size and scope at maturity. Only two types were selected, Savannah Holly and Crape Myrtle, which should provide for sufficient interest throughout the year. Every tree pit was provided with drip irrigation automatically controlled. The design team provided the owner with a manual for maintenance to keep Moultrie beautiful forever. Relations between everybody in the project was good and it is the hope of the design team that such relationships will continue between the project, its caretakers and the public using this environment. Gerhard Sommer is a principal and founder of Sommer & Williams located in Thomasville, Georgia.