she saw a warehouse that was turned into an antique mall.

"You hear ‘a warehouse turned into an antique mall’ and you think ‘well that doesn’t sound very [attractive],’ but it was absolutely stunning, just beautiful," she said.

"We saw older buildings turned into condominiums and new condominiums built on top of retail stores, it was just beautiful."

Blechinger is talking about the city of Madison.

She said she had a particular vision about what residential over commercial would look like, but touring the cities and seeing how they incorporated living space hidden behind retail space, gave her a clearer picture.

"The tours of both cities showed me that there are different ways ... more than one way to accomplish that (mixed-use development), it was just beautiful," Blechinger said of the revitalized downtown districts.

The first day of the tour was spent in Madison, where participants went to the Chamber of Commerce and were separated into walking groups to tour the downtown area. In Madison some of the highlighted attractions included the Rogers House, the Rose Cottage and the Morgan County Court House.

The groups also toured the Round Bowl Spring Project and several rehabilitation and infill projects, including a former ice house that now serves as a restaurant, retail shop and includes upper-level loft housing.

Following the walking tours the groups reconvened at the Chop House where Planning Director Monica Callahan discussed the city’s strategies for the downtown district and discussed many specific projects the city has undertaken.

Following the tours a reception was held at Madison Markets, the former cotton warehouse that now houses an antiques mall and then participants had dinner at 220 Bistro, one of the many downtown restaurants.

The second day of the tour was spent in downtown Milledgeville where the first stop was at City Hall. Participants were given a brief history of the city by Dr. Bob Wilson, professor of History at Georgia College and State University.

Following the history lesson, City Manager Scott Wood and City Planner Russell Thompson discussed the city’s strategies to establish tax incentives through the use of enterprise zones in hopes of creating job opportunities.

A local business owner, Frank Pendergast also spoke to the city officials about his plans to convert a former Belk’s building into a boutique hotel, restaurant and conference center.

Following the presentations participants were given the opportunity to see the project up close and personal in a tour of the former Belk’s store.

Participants also toured the Campus Theatre which is to be rehabilitated and used as a black box theatre and bookstore.

A riding tour swept participants through the city to view the streetscape project, the downtown campus of the college and the Old State Capital.

Lunch was held at the Old Governor’s Mansion which recently underwent a $9 million dollar restoration.

"One thing in Millidgeville that stood out to me ... struck me as a little [strange], was the big mill that sits in the middle of the city," Blechinger explained. "It’s old but it’s working ... and all these new buildings are being built up all around it," she said. "I asked people what they think about it and they said ‘we love our mill;’ they loved it," said Blechinger. "It just goes to show that everything does not have to look perfectly pristine, it doesn’t have to be perfect ... It’s real life, it’s community life."

Blechinger said that another highlight to the tours was getting the chance to meet other mayors, Council members and leaders.

"We were also very excited that Janet Jeanes, [a member of Auburn’s newly formed DDA (Downtown Development Authority)] got to come with us," Blechinger said.

The DDA has its first meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m.