BIG THINGS ARE STILL HAPPENING IN THIS SPECIAL SMALL TOWN
WETUMPKA ’ S NEXT WAVE
The eyes of the world were on Wetumpka in 2021 , thanks to the HGTV series “ Home Town Takeover .” So what ’ s the city been up to since ?
In late 2019 , HGTV started searching for a small town to be transformed by popular renovation experts Ben and Erin Napier in “ Home Town Takeover ,” a spin-off of their hit HGTV show “ Home Town .” The network invited cities with less than 40,000 residents to tell them why it should be the spot to star alongside the couple in the new show . They sifted through more than 500,000 videos representing 2,600 small towns and hit gold when they pressed “ play ” on Wetumpka ’ s submission .
On July 2 , 2020 , HGTV announced that Wetumpka ( population 8,300 ) had been selected , and work on and filming of the multiple renovation and restoration projects ( six residential , six commercial , plus several public spaces ) began in early September . On May 2 , 2021 , the first of six “ Home Town Takeover ” episodes premiered . Each week ’ s installment was full of heart-warming project reveals that elicited squeals , gasps and tears from those directly benefitting from a renovation . But in reality , the entire region has reaped rewards .
BY JENNIFER S . KORNEGAY
CentrAL Inc ! 17