With the decision for the Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe to close its historic downtown campus, leaving a 31-acre site and 300,000-square-foot building, the Catoosa County community saw an opportunity for generational transformation that could turn the loss into an economic development opportunity for their city.
No community wants to lose a hospital, a source of health care and economic security. When Fort Oglethorpe’s only hospital announced plans to relocate to a new location, community leaders believed the old hospital campus still had plenty of life left. The hospital, which opened in the 1950s near the city’s downtown, had been at the heart of the community for generations, caring for patients, delivering babies, and providing jobs.
But residents of Fort Oglethorpe and the surrounding Catoosa County needed to write a new chapter for their community. Catoosa County received the old hospital’s 300,000-square-foot building and 31-acre campus as a donation, so local leaders looked to residents for ideas to bring new opportunities to Fort Oglethorpe.
“It was once the primary hospital for Northwest Georgia and is part of the history of the area going back to the Civil War. We didn’t want to see it torn down,” says Chuck Harris, Catoosa County commissioner and chair of the Catoosa County Public Facilities Authority.
Ideas for how to convert the hospital streamed in from the community. To sort through the ideas for something feasible and beneficial, the community turned to the University of Georgia. Since 2013, the UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government has helped cities in the region reimagine and redesign their downtowns for economic development.
Through the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership, the institute has provided community-driven planning and design support to over 60 cities across Georgia, including Ringgold in 2017 and Fort Oglethorpe in 2021, both in Catoosa County. These projects have helped update streetscapes, renovate commercial space, and convert a historic stable into a bustling community event center.
“To see the transformation that’s happening in Ringgold and Catoosa County where the Institute of Government has worked with us is tremendous to me,” says Catoosa County Manager Dan Wright.
Catoosa County Manager Dan Wright listens as a student discusses a proposed planting plan. (Photo by Sara Ingram)