Big and small cities across America in recent years have struggled with attempts to bring people back to their downtown areas, with revitalization efforts for the most part failing miserably.
But Marietta, Ga., is successfully bucking that trend, changing its turn-of-the- century downtown area into a lively, vibrant, interesting locale that is attracting new business and thousands of tourists.
Located in the northern shadow of the Atlanta metroplex, Marietta has brought back a lot of the charm that most oldtime Southern towns lost due to urban sprawl and burgeoning malls and mega stores along the outskirts.
Antique stores, boutiques, interesting restaurants (many featuring sidewalk table service) and more than a dozen specialty shops now surround a large centerpiece park providing lots of trees, walkways and grassy area. The park is often the scene of special events (such as the recent Clergy Cookoff featuring food items created by dozens of churches) and live musical concerts.
The area, known to locals as The Square, also has a theater featuring regional and national professional actors in everything from country music to Shakespeare productions. History museums (such as the Gone With the Wind and Marietta Museum of History) and other attractions (including the 1840s Root House Museum) are located on streets adjacent to The Square.
Simply strolling around The Square, doing leisurly shopping and having lunch or dinner has become popular with not only Mariettans, but others as well as word of mouth has spread about the city's downtown charm. Walking around the downtown parking areas (which are ample) one can find license plates of vehicles from numerous states.
Just a few blocks off the The Square is the city's magnificant Marietta Conference Center Resort.
Sitting like a giant white hilltop castle overlooking the rolling Georgia hills, the 170,000 square foot Conference Center has 200 well-appointed large guest rooms, superb dining facilities (including the 1800s Southern-elegance Hamilton Restaurant, which seats 300 for indoor and terrace dining). The 132-acre site include panoramic views of the Georgia landscape, Atlanta skyline and nearby Kennesaw Mountain.
The Greek Revival architecture of the building captures the classic South feel and once you are inside the facility the decor adds even further to that atmosphere. Large crystal chandeliers, beautiful wall murals, marble floors, lush gold-red-green colorations and rich mahogony pillars provide a beautiful setting and distinctive ambiance. Every guest room and suite features oversized desks, minibar, dual telephone lines, custom armoires and Internet access. The conference center and hotel also is adjacent to the historic antebellum Brumby Hall and Gardens (covering some 18,000 square feet and including a beautiful perennial garden, topiary garden and large gazebo), with the overall ambiance of the center and Hall creating a large demand as a wedding site (with dozens of such events each year).
Just a few paces from the resort lies the 18-hole City Club golf course, a beautifully-maintained facility featuring a rolling hills course suited for any level of play. The tees run about 5,4700 yards from the white and 4,700 from the red (women). Rates vary from about $23 to $49, including carts (senior rate $26.50 weekdays).
The Center also features extensive conference facilities, health club, swimming pool and tennis courts.
Dozens of old-South homes surround the downtown area, particularly along Church Street. Some include bed-and-breakfast locales. The city has five National Historic Register homes areas. There is also the usual assortment of chain hotels serving the city.
The city is also famous for its huge red chicken-shaped sign advertising a national fast-food cbain.
Marietta is about 15 minutes north of Atlanta and can be reached off exits 265 and 263 of Interstate 75.
For more information, call toll-free at 1-800-835-0445 or visit these Internet web sites: www.mariettasquare.com, www.mariettaresort.com, www.marietta.ga.gov, www.mariettahistory.org,

This story was published on 19 May 2004.