Writer: Tamara Wolk
Published August 25, 2023
Walker County Messenger, The Catoosa County News
Catoosa County is asking area residents to weigh in on uses for the former Hutcheson Medical Center building by way of an online survey.
Residents might first want to read a study conducted by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government and sponsored by the Lyndhurst Foundation in an effort to help the Catoosa County Public Facilities Authority in its efforts to find a solution to the buildings and property, off Lafayette Road in Fort Oglethorpe, that were Hutcheson.
CHI Memorial Hospital-Georgia currently offers emergency and some other services at the location but will be moving those when its new hospital is built on Battlefield Parkway.
The PFA, according to the “Hutcheson Market Study and Financial Feasibility Redevelopment Report” by the Carl Vinson Institute, “prefers to renovate and preserve existing facilities” and “return the parcel to private ownership.”
The report notes that the area is aging but that Catoosa County has the lowest number of residents in the Chattanooga metropolitan area over the age of 65. Nevertheless, according to the Georgia governor’s office, that number is supposed to increase by 36% over the next 20 years.
The report says that the top five industry groups in Catoosa County, as of September 2022, in number of jobs, are as follows:
♦ Food service and drinking places: 2,106 jobs
♦ General merchandise retail: 1,040 jobs
♦ Ambulatory healthcare services: 846 jobs
♦ Textile mills: 843 jobs
♦ Food and beverage retailers: 809 jobs
Compared to the U.S. overall, says the report, Catoosa County has 83 times more textile jobs, 13 times more ambulatory healthcare jobs, and 12.2 times more museum jobs.
The top five industries for job growth in Catoosa County, says the report, are retail trade, manufacturing, construction, real estate and rental leasing.
But there’s a relationship among these. Manufacturing, the report says, is an anchor industry that draws workers. Retail, construction and real estate are satellite industries that provide things the industry workers need and want.
These statistics may surprise many. Where do all the people who work in Catoosa County actually live?
♦ Catoosa County: 30%
♦ Walker County: 18.3%
♦ Hamilton County: 13%
♦ Whitfield County: 9.4%
♦ Murray, Gordon, Cobb, Fulton, Bradley, and Gwinnett counties: under 3% each
♦ Other places: 18.8%
It might also surprise locals to learn that of the counties in the Chattanooga metropolitan area, Catoosa has the highest average income at $62,669. Hamilton County comes in next at $61,050, followed by Marion, Walker, Sequatchie, and Dade counties (rounding out the top six at $47,675).
The report compares certain cost-of-living expenses in Chattanooga and Fort Oglethorpe. Fort Oglethorpe comes out lower on groceries and home ownership but higher on utilities, transportation and healthcare.
The report goes on to explore in detail the possible uses of the nearly 300,000-square-foot Hutcheson building and the surrounding 30 acres.
Various assisted and senior living options are outlined, including expenses that would be involved in developing them and potential profit.
Single-family housing, mixed housing options, retail and shopping areas, green space and other ideas are presented.
To read the report: https://tinyurl.com/2s3dk6wc.
To take the survey: https://tinyurl.com/95ksnbwv.
