Chickamauga officials will choose an architect soon to help return downtown Chickamauga to a more historic appearance.

Chickamauga City Manager John Culpepper will collaborate with Coosa Valley Regional Development Council to pick the firm.

“The company chosen will provide placement of suspended phone and power lines underground,” Culpepper said on Tuesday, July 6, at the Chickamauga City Council meeting. “They will refurbish existing sidewalks, add turn-of-the-century fixtures and lighting, and low-maintenance landscaping.”

The upgrades are part of the city's efforts to return the downtown to its appearance in 1890s. City leaders consider the city a gateway community to the Chickamauga Battlefield, and they hope linking the town with the Civil War battle site will bolster tourism for both.

The architectural company will also design markers to show the city’s history, administer project and construction inspection and provide a bid document, he said.

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Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung of Atlanta; Arcadis of Chattanooga; Robert and Co. of Atlanta; Barge, Waggoner, Summer and Cannon of Chattanooga; John Benson and Associates of Atlanta; and Jaeger Co. of Gainesville, Ga., will submit qualifications. Companies vying for a contract are on the state Department of Transportation’s list of qualified architectural firms.

Each company’s proposal must be submitted by 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 15. Coosa Regional Development Council will help screen proposals to award contract at the August council meeting.

Mayor Ray Crowder appointed Culpepper and council members Robert Robertson and Mark Askew to interview contract applicants.

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Chickamauga City Council is scheduled to hold a regular monthly meeting Monday, Aug. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Chickamauga Civic Center at 300 Euclid Ave. For more information on meetings, call City Hall at (706) 375-3177.

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In other business Tuesday, July 6:

* The city sold surplus vehicles and equipment, following numerous bids from the community.

Blakemore Construction agreed to buy a 1991 Ford patrol car for $451; Ernest Atkins will purchase a 1992 Crown Victoria for $877; Freeman Wells offered $3,309 for three-horse trailers; and Bob Tarvin's $4,610 offer for a 1983 Ford bucket truck was accepted.

* Zoning Administrator Gary Gossett, Crowder and Culpepper will attend Gateway Communities: Keys to Success, an interactive television broadcast at The Colonnade in Catoosa County, on Thursday, July 8.

“It is to improve the community surrounding the park,” Culpepper said. “It shows you what you can do and have the same viable business concept.”

Superintendent of Chickamauga Battlefield Park Pat Reed will sponsor the presentation, and the moderator will be Edward McMahon.

“He will show what mistakes other communities have made with other national parks, such as Yosemite,” he said.

* The Civil War Living History program will begin this Saturday.

Culpepper said, “It will be a mini-War Between the States Day.”

* Lisa Prather has been designing the Civil War Mural on Oliver’s Cabinet Shop for the past week in between rainy days.

* Sandra Brock and Corky Jewell were re-appointed to serve on the Chickamauga Public Library Board of Trustees from July 1, 2004, until July 30, 2007.

* Culpepper read state-mandated outdoor watering restrictions.

“On Aug. 1 if you have an odd numbered address, then water on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, but if you have an even numbered address then water on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday,” he said