As people drive along Highway 515 through East Ellijay, they may notice a plethora of construction projects underway.
Some are farther along than others, and the Times-Courier spoke with Public Safety Director Larry Callahan, as well as other project leaders, to hear the latest on what residents can expect.
Piedmont building
Piedmont Healthcare offices across the county will soon be at a centralized building in East Ellijay, where patients can receive emergency services, outpatient advanced imaging, primary care, cardiovascular care, obstetrics, gynecology services, rheumatology and more.
The Atlanta-based provider is building a two-story, 56,000 square-foot medical facility between Howard Simmons Road and Mountain View Drive.
“That base is going to be their hub for all their health care in Gilmer County,” Callahan said. “It’s going to be the emergency room and the landing zone for the helicopter. Right now they lease a lot of office space in different locations, and are trying to centralize as much as possible.”
He added that Piedmont will open the lower floor, even as they continue construction on the upper floor.
According to a timeline sent by Mark Baucom, Piedmont’s communications specialist, the imaging and outpatient lab will go live May 27, provider groups will start seeing patients June 2, and the new emergency department will open June 12.
“We’re dedicated to providing exceptional medical services, and this state-of-the-art facility ensures our community has immediate access to advanced emergency care when and where it’s needed most,” Denise Ray, chief operating officer at Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, said.
Chick-fil-A timeline
Chick-fil-A’s renovations were supposed to be completed in April. Now, the construction’s estimated finish time has been pushed to early or mid-May.
“Early May is what they’re shooting for,” Callahan said. “It might be that we get great weather, everything works good, and they’re able to open late April.”
In January, the Gilmer County restaurant operator said the renovations include completely redoing the interior of the store, reconfiguring the kitchen for more equipment and an assembly line process and refreshing the dining area with a new look and chairs. Outside, the parking lot has been torn up to enlarge it and allow for a double-lane drive-thru.
Transmission line
A $35 million electric power transmission line project has been sticking to schedule along Highway 515, Callahan said.
Since December 2024, crews have been working on running the 46kv sub-transmission line 10 miles north from East Ellijay to a new substation that will serve Amicalola EMC members.
“Once this line is completed, it will provide much more reliability for EMC customers in that area,” Craig Heighton, director of external affairs for the Georgia Transmission Corporation, said.
The transmission line will be completed, and the substation will be energized this summer, he confirmed.
The main obstacle crews have had to face is the topography of Gilmer County, where he explained, “Constructing a line in the area, versus somewhere else in Georgia where it’s relatively flat, of course you are going to run into more challenges in that respect … it’s a different building environment.”
Projects in early stages
The new location for Orchard Church is in the early stages of being built behind Mountain Cinemas. They have their land disturbance permit, are working on the permitting process with the fire marshal and have begun site work, Callahan said.
Construction for an Asian-fusion restaurant has broken ground along Highland Crossing, near Mavis Tires and Brakes.
Kevin Panter Insurance is building a stand-alone facility on Mulberry Street. The company has locations in Ellijay and Blue Ridge as well.
A Marriott SpringHill Suites hotel in later stages of being built now has a new general contractor. With work being resumed, Callahan is hopeful that it will be completed soon.