I-85 Welcome Center In Lavonia Re-Opens Today

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

The Georgia Welcome Center on Interstate 85 in Lavonia is scheduled to re-open for use today after undergoing extensive renovations.

Georgia Department of Transportation Spokesperson Teri Pope said the work took longer than expected, but at last the public is invited to come today to see the new facility for travelers entering Georgia.

“Georgia DOT is relieved to announce the Welcome Center will re-open for use Friday morning,” Pope said. “It is almost a completely new Welcome Center after all of the changes have been made.”

Georgia’s Department of Transportation closed the Welcome Center in July for major renovations and had hoped to re-open it by Labor Day.

However, Pope said that once crews got in there and began the work, they uncovered some unexpected and major problems.

“When we got in there it turned out to be in even worse shape that we expected,” she said. “There were problems with every major system in the Welcome Center. We knew the plumbing had to be repaired but once we got that fixed, we discovered an outside leak in the lines going to the Center. The electrical was in really bad shape, and we actually found birds living inside the building. It was kind of everything you could think of that could wrong was wrong with the building.”

Delays in material deliveries also slowed work.

Part of the upgrades to the Welcome Center include new HVAC, new drywall and paint, and all new plumbing and lighting.

DOT officials said the Welcome Center is now also more environmentally responsible with low flow, automatic flush valve toilets and LED lighting inside and outside.

The new inside lights have occupancy sensors so the lights will turn on and off automatically.

Prime Contractors of Powder Springs, Georgia did the work for $720,000.