The historic Old Jail on Main Street is well on the way to becoming the home for Hinesville's Downtown Development Authority, with rehabilitation almost complete inside and out.
Vicki Davis, DDA director, has chosen the former sheriff's office on the second floor as her office, and a receptionist's office will be downstairs. Davis, a historic preservationist herself, said the modernization of the National Historic Register-listed Old Jail has been kept to an absolute minimum.
It was necessary to add a few electrical outlets, and there is emergency lighting to meet current life safety codes, but most of the battleship-gray interior will be kept as it is.
The original, bare concrete downstairs will be retained, only cleaned and coated as a concession to modern maintenance concerns. Linoleum -- age unknown -- in the sheriff's office has successfully resisted efforts to remove it and will probably be treated like the concrete floor downstairs. An appropriate antique desk is planned for downstairs.
Davis said, "Having a unique office like this will give us a special character that should be a real asset."
She is thinking of promotional items such as Old Jail T-shirts or "I served time in the Old Jail" release papers as handouts for visitors, possibly with suspect-type mug shots.
A grand opening is planned for May, but Davis has an emphatic appeal to the community right now. She is asking for people with stories, photos, newspaper clippings or relics of the Old Jail to contact her so she can continue developing information on one of Hinesville's historic buildings.
The authority's email address is HDDA@coastalnow.net; the phone number is 368-3473.
Vicki Davis, DDA director, has chosen the former sheriff's office on the second floor as her office, and a receptionist's office will be downstairs. Davis, a historic preservationist herself, said the modernization of the National Historic Register-listed Old Jail has been kept to an absolute minimum.
It was necessary to add a few electrical outlets, and there is emergency lighting to meet current life safety codes, but most of the battleship-gray interior will be kept as it is.
The original, bare concrete downstairs will be retained, only cleaned and coated as a concession to modern maintenance concerns. Linoleum -- age unknown -- in the sheriff's office has successfully resisted efforts to remove it and will probably be treated like the concrete floor downstairs. An appropriate antique desk is planned for downstairs.
Davis said, "Having a unique office like this will give us a special character that should be a real asset."
She is thinking of promotional items such as Old Jail T-shirts or "I served time in the Old Jail" release papers as handouts for visitors, possibly with suspect-type mug shots.
A grand opening is planned for May, but Davis has an emphatic appeal to the community right now. She is asking for people with stories, photos, newspaper clippings or relics of the Old Jail to contact her so she can continue developing information on one of Hinesville's historic buildings.
The authority's email address is HDDA@coastalnow.net; the phone number is 368-3473.