Several projects lined up to revitalize Elkmont

Jul. 15—Elkmont is getting a makeover that includes building a new Town Hall and elementary school, constructing sidewalks and walking trails, and possibly adding outdoor courtyards downtown.

Elkmont Mayor Tracy Compton said the projects are revitalizing the small town of Elkmont "in a big way" and it will look very different by next year, which is the 150th anniversary of its incorporation.

Compton said the glory days of Elkmont, which was established in 1858 and incorporated March 28, 1873, were in the 1930s.

"One hundred years later we've sustained, we've grown over time and now we're revitalized. And moving in a super positive way in that direction," he said.

Compton said the improvements will benefit residents in areas surrounding the town.

"We like to include everyone in the area as people from Elkmont, not just the city limits," he said.

Elkmont received a $1 million, 30-year loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program to go toward building a new Town Hall downtown. Compton said the town borrowed another $600,000 from a bank in town to cover the rest of the $1.6 million project.

The new Town Hall will be two stories and 2,400 square feet with offices for the mayor, police chief and town clerk as well as a conference room. It will also have a wind-resistant safe room for use during severe weather.

"The building we're building now is very nice. It's going to be full brick. It's going to look like it was built 100 years ago to match the other buildings in town which were built 100 years ago," Compton said.

The groundbreaking was held Thursday, but construction began earlier this week.

"They have to dig out some topsoil to get down to some hard-base material, so that's already started. There's equipment down there," Compton said.

Compton said it should be completed in about a year.

"Let's say by the Fourth of July would be a great milestone next year to be able to say that we're complete and have a great grand opening for the people of Elkmont," he said. "The town's been around for 150 years, and we've really never had a government administrative building that was worthy of mention."

Compton said usually the town's tax dollars go to parks, roads and other infrastructure. He said those are all important but so is the building.

"There's nothing like a nice, new facility that everybody can point to and say 'I'm part of that, my money's gone to that and we're proud of it,'" he said.

Elkmont had a population estimated at 429 in 2021, and it has fluctuated only slightly since being recorded as 434 in the 2010 census.

"We are not in the part of the county that's closest to Huntsville, so we don't have as fast a rate of growth as maybe the eastern part of Limestone County does, but we are growing nonetheless (in the greater community)," Compton said. — New elementary school

Elkmont Elementary has shared a campus with the high school but is getting a separate campus and new school building.

"Construction is scheduled to start in mid to late August with a target of opening in the fall of 2024," Limestone County Schools spokeswoman Ashley Graves said.

The new elementary school will also include students from Piney Chapel, which has 184 students. There are 344 students enrolled at Elkmont Elementary.

"The new school has the capacity to serve 750 students," Graves said.

The high school will use the old elementary school in addition to the high school building. There are 628 students enrolled at the high school.

Compton said they have applied for a grant through Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments for sidewalks through the town to connect the high school and new elementary school.

"Almost half the length of Elkmont will be one big sidewalk when it's finally done. That will then connect not only to the school but to the Elkmont Rural Village Trail system. That sidewalk crosses the Rails to Trails ... which really then becomes part of the Singing River Trail, which is a much broader trail system that will eventually connect to Athens," he said.

The grant will tie together multiple walking, bicycle, hiking and horseback trails, Compton said.

Compton said Elkmont is also looking into streetscape projects downtown. They would include courtyards with fences and tables in front of stores. The new Town Hall project already includes a courtyard.

"We're going to have audio-visual equipment that we can bring outside. We can broadcast movies at night, we could do ballgames and have people outside for that. All a part of the Town Hall construction," Compton said.

On the back of the new Town Hall will be a two-story porch which overlooks a hillside.

"It's going to allow a band to set up at the Town Hall, face that little hillside and then it will be like an elevated place for people to sit and watch the music, listen to the music," Compton said.

The Elkmont Volunteer Fire Department also received a loan of $92,2000 from the USDA to purchase a newer fire truck and for equipment. Compton said Elkmont committed to giving the department $50,000 toward new equipment over the next five years.

Michael Carter, assistant fire chief, said they are using the money from the loan and the town to purchase two newer fire trucks to replace older ones.

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.