Macon Magazine

Daughter Laurie, a landscape architect, opened a Macon firm in 2020 and works part-time remotely for a Denver-based landscape design firm. In 2021, Fickling will conclude her work with Historic Macon and will open an architecture and landscape design firm with Laurie. "We won't be limited to residential work. Laurie will do larger projects around town," she said. Daughter Dru, who works in visual effects in Los Angeles, currently is on location in Atlanta filming a large-scale project for her company. Fickling sees a confluence of trends that bode well for Macon, and has observed that people at all stages of life are renovating the homes in which they're spending the bulk of their time and many older couples are retiring in place. While downtown Macon continues trending for young singles and couples, as more and more amenities become available, Fickling also sees potential for development that appeals to empty- nesters and families. She's enthusiastic about the next phase of the Macon Action Plan (MAP 2.0) and accompanying funding, saying, "We're on the right track and in the right place at the right time. I believe the pandemic ultimately will prove beneficial for Macon." As a professional steeped in design, development and construction work for decades, Fickling said that "sometimes it has been difficult to do business in the city, unnecessarily so. I'm hopeful they will streamline the process." "Shannon's a creative designer who's creative with budget- friendly solutions, critical in our business," Garlington said. "She has a passion for revitalization and beautiful design, and that's Historic Macon's mission." Fickling is proud of her Beall's Hill work. "It was a beautiful old neighborhood that became a blighted area with boarded up houses," she said. "Today, with HMF's respectful approach to revitalization, it's a mixed neighborhood, not segregated in any way." As a former Urban Development Authority board member, Fickling touted the success of round one of the Macon Action Plan (MAP) to help revitalize downtown. "We completed a he y list of downtown projects funded by two of Macon's generous foundations, Knight and Peyton Anderson, administered by the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. A er completion, private developers got involved, which is what you want," she said. Chris Sheridan, civic advocate and former president of Chris R. Sheridan & Company, said, "Shannon approaches every project with grace and dignity. She isn't afraid to get her hands dirty, which produces amazing results." GAME-CHANGING PANDEMIC Envisioning downtown's future, Fickling contended, "we're on the right track" and believes the COVID-19 pandemic will prove beneficial for Macon. "Young people are leaving large urban cities to settle in smaller ones," she said. "The lack of good jobs kept millennials from returning to Macon, but now, people are working from everywhere." Fickling sees people of every age reimagining their lives working from home – a game changer in Macon and in her own family. "My son Billy and his wife, Frannie, who lived in New York City prior to the pandemic, recently bought a home in the historic district and work from home, he in finance and she for a national retailer," she said. Beyond parental delight in their relocation, Fickling is "glad they bought when they did because Macon's residential market is doing better than it has in decades." 54 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2021

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