Here's O'Neal Plaza

In 1969, William H. Whyte was helping the City of New York with urban planning by studying human behavior in urban settings. Over a span of 16 years he conducted the Street Life Project to understand how people use city spaces. As unobtrusively as possible, he watched people and used time-lapse photography to chart the meanderings of pedestrians. What emerged through his intuitive analysis is an extremely human, view of what is staggeringly obvious about people’s behavior in public spaces, but seemingly invisible to the inobservant.

Regarding his observations Whyte said, “If there’s a lesson in street watching it is that people do like basics–and as environments go, a street that is open to the sky and filled with people and life is a splendid place to be.” Whyte began to advocate for a new way to design public spaces that focused more on answering questions involving how the space would be used rather than the attitude, “Here it is. Use it.”

Whyte advised in order for humans to actually use an urban setting the space has to provide for civic engagement and community interaction. I’d like to add another “C” word–charm. Therefore, the space should be easy to get to, easy to use, attract all types of citizens and drip with charm.

Douglasville is fortunate to have a space like that–.

Yes, O’Neal Plaza is a street open to the sky. It is people friendly, often filled with life, and it is a splendid place to be. O’Neal Plaza is located in the middle of the historic commercial district, has plenty of space for movement, blends with the architecture of the existing buildings, and has interesting features such as the fountain and a unique stage area–my most favorite area of the plaza. 

Years ago Baggett’s Pool Hall filled the area where the award winning stage area is today alongside Dr. T.B. Taylor’s medical office (the inset area where the has a few tables). 

I love the character of the space. The cut-outs where windows used to be, the uneven brickwork, the spots where crossbeams for the buildings used to rest in the brick walls,  and other hints that something used to be there. I love where the moss and other vegetation is actually growing out of the wall. It just draws me in, and of course the canopy over the stage is exceptional.

Without the canopy the stage area would be just a small brick area fading into an even larger brick area, but the canopy’s unique design sets the space apart, creates the space and makes it unique to Douglasville. 

The stage area is exactly what its designer, Terry Miller of Miller and Associates wanted it to be–an icon for downtown Douglasville–a spot where everyone will want to have their picture taken.

If you think the canopy resembles train tracks then you have a great eye.   That’s exactly what Terry Miller had mind since the location of the railroad was important to the  

The railroad design pays homage to our past while it leads us into the future.

According to a recent Douglas County Sentinel article O’Neal Plaza will experience some construction in the next few months as work has begun to complete O’Neal Plaza East which will create a pedestrian alley between the buildings that front Broad and Church Street in essence making the East side of the Plaza match the West side. While I’m glad the project will finally be completed, I was a little alarmed to learn that the tree that hangs over the back area of the stage might be cut down and the patio area of the Irish Bred Pub might have a different look once the construction is completed. I do love that tree. It’s one of those things that give the Plaza its charm.

The D.H. Gurley grocery ad featuring Snowdrift Shortening is another aspect of the Plaza’s charm. The ad takes us back to the turn of the century and our earliest roots as well. I’ve joked in the past that I love history so much I’d research the history of a button, but in this case I actually conducted research regarding the product featured on the ad and wrote about Snowdrift Shortening and Douglasville’s ad here at my webpage History Is Elementary.

O’Neal Plaza is versatile since it attracts so many different people for so many different activities including festivals like , , the recent , and the weekly Farmer’s Market that is continuing each Thursday until Nov. 17 between 3 and 7 p.m.

Launched by the city’s Main Street Douglasville program the market features grass-fed meats, pesticide-free produce, milk and cream, goat cheese, handcrafted items, baked goods, specialty items. All local growers, artisans, and crafts people are welcome to participate.

We haven’t been very fortunate over the last few weeks as rain has rolled in each and every Thursday afternoon, but the vendors keep showing up and so does my longtime friend Jeff Pike to provide live music.

Last week I shot the attached video of Jeff entertaining us a little before the rain ran us off. Make sure you watch it!

Participating vendors have included Ivabell Acres, Heritage Farm, Blue Tailed Lizard Tamales, Abundant Harvest Gardens, Johnston Family Farm, Fairywood Thicket Jams and Jellies, and Zocalo. For more information about the Main Street Farmer’s Market contact the Main Street Manager at 678-715-6092 or go to this site.

Come on out next week, shop a little, enjoy the plaza and listen to some great music!

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about O’Neal Plaza. You can discover a little about the man O’Neal Plaza is named for .

William H. Whyte's work observing people and how they use city spaces caused him to conclude, “The street is the river of life of the city, the place where we come together, the pathway to the center.”

I firmly believe that O’Neal Plaza is the City of Douglasville’s river of life–the place where we come together–the pathway to our collective center.