New breeze way located in the former Sportsman Resturant location in downtown Moultrie . creasing success . “ Taking baby steps turned into bigger steps . The foundation for this progress was laid in the late 1980s and early 1990s , and we just continue to add to what ’ s been done . We still have a long way to go , but we have come a long way .” Johnson shares that , “ We have very active groups : Downtown Moultrie Association ( made up of merchants ), Downtown Moultrie Tomorrow Inc . ( a private organization ), and Moultrie Downtown Development Authority . We ’ ve all worked together with other community partners . These organizations raised quite a bit of money to get all of these things done .” Johnson reiterates Dillard ’ s opinion that “ The opening of the new Welcome Center is a gamechanger , for sure .” Not one to rest on her laurels , Johnson admits that she enjoys seeing the progress . However , “ We can ’ t let finishing one project stop us from continuing to do more . Once Hal [ Carter ] finishes his apartments , we ’ ll have more than 40 apartments downtown . We also have brand-new , 55-andover apartments that were built off Second Avenue .” Johnson also credits the community , which has had “ a big buy-in with downtown since 2000 and has such a connection with our courthouse .” Having the support of elected officials , community buyin , and organizations with boards that work : all of these things came together to create success . Says Johnson , “ You have to have leaders that are part of your team and who see the big picture .” Moultrie certainly does , and that ’ s good news for the revitalization of small-town America . n
34 Spring / Summer 2021