When Bill Headley founded Headley Construction in 1971, his dream was to build a better world for families and communities across Georgia.
Based in Newnan since its inception, Headley Construction has been deeply involved in improving Coweta County. While Bill has passed leadership of Headley Construction down to the next generation – his son, Mitch, is now president of the company – his vision of building a better Coweta has guided the company through 50 years of growth and success and has been indelibly woven into our County’s architectural history.
By renovating the Historic Coweta County Courthouse, building and expanding local church and school campuses, improving local government buildings, and creating outstanding fire stations and public recreation complexes, Headley Construction has permanently changed the landscape of our community. While it is difficult to say which individual project has had the greatest impact on Coweta County, there is no doubt that each of the following buildings has influenced how we live, work, learn, play and worship.
Architects from Houser Walker supervised the major expansion for The University of West Georgia, which offers students unique learning spaces while maintaining a beloved local landmark.
Newnan Hospital/University of West Georgia
Constructed in 1925, the campus of the Old Newnan Hospital has been an integral part of the community for nearly a century. Today, it remains a vibrant part of the Historic Downtown district as the home of the Newnan campus of the University of West Georgia.
Focused on expanding the University’s nursing program, Headley Construction played a key role in converting the property, assisting with architectural services, estimating, value engineering, structural and site concrete services, and masonry.
Headley Construction’s Vice President Christopher Gilliam helped guide several key projects as the building was converted from a hospital into a modern educational facility focused on nursing when he first joined the company as a project manager. These included repurposing original operating rooms into science labs, preserving and restoring original lighting, the addition of an auditorium, and renovation of more than 50,000 square feet of space for classrooms.
Headley Construction worked with several partners to convert Newnan's unique, century-old cotton mill into a live/work/play establishment as part of a massive adaptive reuse project.
Headley Construction worked with several partners to convert Newnan's unique, century-old cotton mill into a live/work/play establishment as part of a massive adaptive reuse project.
Newnan Lofts
As Newnan faced the question of what to do with a decaying, century-old, abandoned cotton mill, Headley Construction came up with the answer: loft apartments.
Today, Newnan Lofts provides a vibrant downtown lifestyle option, offering 145 loft-style apartments, 50 unique floor plans, and 27,000 square feet of retail space. Headley Construction worked with several partners to convert the cotton mill into a live-work-play establishment as part of a massive adaptive reuse project.
“Newnan Lofts is a signature project that enabled the preservation of a building that was more than 100 years old,” said President Mitch Headley, who worked as Project Manager on the Lofts development.
"It was complicated. It had historical value, which created a need for multiple approvals from state agencies, required tax credits, and the construction itself had unique demands. But it was important to the community in so many ways, and we’re proud to have made it a success."
Coweta County Historic Courthouse
If there’s an iconic structure that immediately evokes an image of Coweta County and its fascinating heritage, that structure is the Coweta County Historic Courthouse on the downtown square in Newnan.
Constructed in 1904, the historic courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Headley Construction has long had a key role in updating the courthouse to modern standards. The company began its first renovation of the courthouse in 1975 with additional renovations taking place in 1990.
In 2012, thanks to an effort supported by the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society, Coweta County Commissioners, and citizens across Coweta’s municipalities, SPLOST funds were used to complete a full historic renovation of the Courthouse. Headley Construction provided general contracting, value engineering, site development, and construction services, including restoration of the copper work adorning the dome, cornice, pediments and railings.
A structural engineer’s dream, the floor plan of the magnificent Neoclassical building remains essentially the same as it was almost 100 years ago with the addition of an elevator and restrooms for improved accessibility. The project was selected for an Excellence in Restoration Award by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.
Funded partly by a 2007 Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) initiative, the highly anticipated Carnegie Library opened to the public on September 15, 2009. Headley Construction served as the general contractor on the project, with architectural services provided by Carter Watkins Associates.
Carnegie Library
Newnan’s Carnegie Library dates back to 1901, when wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie recognized Newnan’s bright future and provided a grant of $10,000 for the construction of a public library on its town square.
More than a hundred years later, the City of Newnan realized the need to bring back library services to downtown Newnan and began restoration of the library in 2007 with funding from its general funds and a citizen-supported Special Local Option Sales Tax to pay the $1.5 million project cost. The Carnegie’s bottom floor serves as a reading room and the second floor as a meeting space.
Headley Construction served as the general contractor on the project with architectural services provided by Carter Watkins Associates. The team succeeded in creating an interior design that was period correct for the early 1900s while adapting the two-story, wood-framed, load-bearing brick exterior building for modern use as a community library and conference center.
After the low-bid contractor defaulted on the SPLOST-funded construction of the Newnan Centre in 2013, Headley Construction played a unique role in the Centre's completion, making extensive structural modifications and turning the project around to finish on schedule.
Newnan Centre
In the early 2010s, the City of Newnan embarked on the construction of the Newnan Centre, a new $5 million multi-purpose facility for a broad array of civic functions, social events and meetings. When a low-bid contractor defaulted in the early stages of the building, Headley Construction played a unique role in the completion of this important Coweta County SPLOST-funded project.
The company made extensive structural modifications and was able to turn the project around and finish on schedule. The Newnan Centre opened to rave reviews in June 2013 as a multi-purpose facility designed to host corporate meetings, wedding receptions, banquets, fundraisers and social events. It accommodates up to 650 people and hosts more than 300 events each year.
A committee of firemen and other City staff collaborated with architects at Goodwin Mill Cawood to design the two-bay facility.
Fire Station No. 4
In late 2018, Headley Construction crews began work on a brand new fire station for the City of Newnan, Station No. 4, and completed the facility with a grand opening on November 12, 2019.
Newnan Fire Department’s daily services to the community include more than just fire prevention. Firefighters also provide rescue and emergency medical assistance and response to various unforeseen incidents.
The new 7,347-square-foot facility houses 24-hour staffing with areas for high-tech firefighter equipment, spacious bunks, common areas and a gym. At the push-in ceremony, Newnan Fire Chief Stephen Brown said Fire Station No. 4 “will help to bring faster response times for neighborhoods while increasing the level of services that we provide to the citizens of Newnan.”
Headley Construction was proud to provide full general contractor services for the project, which was funded with Special Local Option Sales Taxes.
Pathways Care Campus
True to the company’s mission to build better lives, Headley Construction was honored to construct the Pathways Care Campus on Hospital Road. National Vital and Health Statistics report that more than 13% of Coweta County’s adults suffer from frequent mental distress. For our children, this number is even higher.
Pathways Center, a behavioral health organization focused on improving outcomes for individuals in crisis, partnered with Coweta County and the Coweta Hospital Authority to design and construct a facility offering important support services to local adults and children in distress.
Opened in 2019, the Pathways Care Campus provides walk-in evaluations, crisis stabilization, and substance abuse help. Separate adult and children and adolescent units feature cheerful murals, bright exercise rooms, high ceilings and secluded outdoor spaces that look non-institutional by design.
Prioritizing patient and staff safety, Headley Construction also incorporated unique features differentiating the facility from other area crisis centers. State-of-the-art behavioral safety products, like impact and tamper-resistant fixtures, and ligature-resistant hinges, handles and locks, offer Cowetans in crisis the highest degree of safety while receiving mental health treatment.
Pathways Care Campus is named for a program called Coweta Cares, a mobile integrated health care unit for behavioral health care calls.
Electric Cities of Georgia Corporate Headquarters
Reliable, safe, affordable electricity is important to our community, and Headley Construction looks forward to the design-build and general contracting of a state-of-the-art training facility for Electric Cities of Georgia.
Electric Cities of Georgie (ECG) is a nonprofit organization providing strategic and technical services to 52 communities with utility operations, including Newnan Utilities. The new facility will be situated on 11 acres located along Ellen Sims Court in Newnan and feature a 7,000 square foot pre-engineered metal building.
Jay Barlett, chairman of the ECG Board, said of the organization’s move to Newnan Industrial Park, “It will be the foundation for a brighter tomorrow.”
By Jill Whitley for Newnan Coweta Magazine