CL
n NEWS & NOTEWORTHY n
Cumberland CID wants a
BeltLine of its own
BY ALEKS GILBERT
Atlanta’s Belt Line and New York’s High Line
are just glorified sidewalks, according to Wade
Thompson, founder and creative director of
the Son & Sons branding agency.
The Cumberland Community Improvement
District recently asked Thompson for his help
in creating another glorified sidewalk — and,
hopefully, another “economic juggernaut.”
“These are physically simple things that,
due to the way they’ve been branded and
presented and talked about and (what) stories
have been told, they became economic
juggernauts,” Thompson said, referring to the
Beltline and Highline trails. “But without that
level of branding and communication, we get
another sidewalk.”
The district’s board agreed in late
September to pay Thompson’s agency
$95,000 to brand and market what had been
called the Cumberland Core Loop in the
district’s planning documents.
The district is a collection of self-taxing
property owners that funds community
improvement projects in the area through a
mix of its own revenue and state and federal
grants.
Kim Menefee, the district’s executive
director, may be a step ahead of Thompson; in
an August interview, she said she hoped the
trail could be to the Cumberland area what the
BeltLine is to Atlanta.
The trail is still in the planning phase,
Menefee said, with its exact route still to be
decided. But a district document dated Feb.
29, 2019 provides a rough outline as to where
it will go and what it might become.
The 2.9-mile loop would feature bike
share stations and pedestrian bridges and
connect the district’s key attractions: the
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area,
the Bob Callan and Cottonwood Creek trails,
the Cobb Energy Centre and Galleria Centre,
Cumberland Mall, Truist Park and The Battery
Atlanta.
“This is far beyond our traditional trails,”
Menefee told the district’s board Thursday.
“This multimodal path will really be
transformative in terms of how you get around
the district, because we have the great ability
to drive around the district very easily … but
what this does is it adds the dedicated bike
lanes (and) walking paths.”
Menefee said she would also like to have
autonomous vehicles operate on the trail,
although that idea has yet to be fleshed out in
any detail, she told the board.
District spokesperson Lisa Sanders said
the estimated total cost of the project is $25
million.
Neapolitan-style pizzeria
coming to Kennesaw
BY ALEKS GILBERT
After cutting his teeth at restaurants in Naples,
Miami and Atlanta, “pizzaiolo” Massimo
Andreozzi will soon open his own pizzeria
Napoletana in downtown Kennesaw.
Vesuvio will take the space formerly
occupied by Colombian Bites, at 2893 N. Main
St., Kennesaw.
“He wants to share a little bit of what it
feels like to dine in his hometown of Naples,”
Andreozzi’s wife, Lindsay Andreozzi, shared
in an email. “Restaurants there aren’t big and
fast-paced. There is no stress on waiters to
keep tables turning, things are slowed down
to better enjoy the food, wine and each other’s
company. Patrons of Neapolitan restaurants
are accustomed to the chef coming to greet
and interact with guests and offer his/her
recommendations.”Andreozzi spent more than
10 years in Naples learning the art of pizzamaking
and came to the U.S. in 2007, stopping
first in Miami. He then landed a job as head
pizzaiolo (Italian for “pizza-maker”) at Inman
Park’s Fritti, eventually working his way up to
kitchen manager of Fritti and the neighboring
Sotto Sotto.
Vesuvio, named after the volcano that looms
over Naples, will serve pizzas, salads, antipasti
and paninis for lunch and dinner, according to
Lindsay Andreozzi. It will also offer beer and
wine, primarily those from Italy’s Campania
region.
The restaurant can seat 50 people inside
and another 20 outside.
Massimo Andreozzi
Cobb Young Professionals
announces winners of 2020
Next Generation Award
STAFF REPORTS
Cobb Young Professionals (CYP), the Cobb
Chamber’s networking and development group
for professionals in their 20s and 30s, named
the winners of the 2020 Next Generation
Award, presented by the Credit Union of
Georgia, at the chamber’s September Marquee
46 COBB LIFE | NOVEMBER 2020