During the May 2 meeting of the Dawsonville City Council, council members voted to approve a request for proposed improvements to the winner’s circle outside of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. 

The request was first brought before the city council earlier this year, and the decision was tabled from the March 31 council meeting to allow museum leadership to consult with an engineer and further research what all the addition would entail. 

In a presentation to the mayor and council members at Monday’s meeting, museum director Cindy Elliott explained that she and other museum leadership have amended their original request, which included the proposed addition of a covered portico, after doing more research on their options. 

"Looking at material costs right now everything is so high, I think it might be cost-prohibitive for us to try to build a permanent structure at this time,” Elliott said to the council during the meeting. “So I’ve gotten three different companies to work with me on what is called a shade sail system.” 

According to Elliott, a shade sail system is a common way of providing shade to outdoor restaurant areas, commercial areas or playgrounds. The companies that have provided information about the system have estimated about 2500 square feet of coverage, and the system would be able to be put up and taken down. 

“It will be something that we would wanna put up probably from about March to October because the Hall of Fame now has the winner circle included in their lease so we would like to use that area more and it’s just really hot out there with the sun beating down on you,” Elliott said. “It’s something that we could put up and take down in time to have your Christmas tree up and I think it would be more cost-effective for us hopefully at this time.” 

Elliott added that the addition of the proposed shade sail system may require the installation of an I-beam, but museum leadership have yet to hear for sure whether or not the beam would be necessary. The average cost of the system, she said, would be about $10 per square foot. 

Before the council voted on the proposal, City Manager Bob Bolz added to Elliott’s presentation, saying that the shade sail system would bring some much-needed shade to an otherwise hot area outside of the museum. 

“It’ll make that area a whole lot nicer in the summertime,” Bolz said. 

Council members voted unanimously to approve the proposal, allowing museum leadership to move forward with the next steps of the project.