Meet Wimberly Treadwell, a Macon architect, who has been quietly reshaping downtown through community driven projects.

MACON, Ga. — Editor’s note: This story is part of 13WMAZ’s “Red, White and You” series, highlighting everyday Central Georgians making a difference ahead of the 250th birthday of the United States. 

To nominate someone in your community, email news@13wmaz.com.

Wimberly Treadwell knows Bi-Centennial Park from corner to corner because she designed it.

Treadwell, a fourth-generation Macon architect, has spent more than two decades reshaping the landscape of downtown Macon, from alley revitalizations and Cherry Street Plaza to Coleman Hill, the Hummingbird Courtyard and the Spirit of Macon Park. Much of that work has been done pro bono.

Bi-Centennial Park, Macon-Bibb County’s gift to itself on its 200th anniversary, is among her most personal projects.

“My great grandfather was the architect for the auditorium, which was the 100-year gift to the city of Macon,” Treadwell said. “This was the bicentennial gift to Macon-Bibb, and so I wanted to have my name as the architect on the project.”

Her family’s architectural firm, Dennis and Dennis, was founded by her great-great-grandfather. Treadwell said she has drawings from the firm dating back to 1904 and 1905, which she has since donated to the University of Georgia. Buildings from that era still stand across middle and south Georgia today.

“My great grandfather, my grandfather, my father — all architects practicing here in Macon,” she said. “It’s really important to see those buildings, see that heritage, understand the tradition of coming from an architectural family.”

Treadwell said she knew early on that she wanted a different path within that tradition. Growing up, she watched her relatives produce detailed structural drawings by hand and felt little pull toward that work.

“I come from a family of architects, three generations of architects, and I did not like drawing the details that they drew every day,” she said.

She pursued landscape architecture at the University of Georgia. After graduating, Treadwell returned to Macon to complete her apprenticeship hours toward licensure, working first with a local nursery and then in planning and zoning. She later spent 10 years doing site development for Charter Medical Corporation, a national hospital company based in Macon, traveling the country to handle zoning for hospital projects.

After having two sons, she said, she settled into a more traditional landscape architecture practice closer to home.

Her deeper investment in downtown Macon came during the economic downturn of 2007, when construction work dried up and grant funding from NewTown Macon opened the door to community projects.

“That’s where I found my love for downtown Macon,” she said. “My grandfather owned a store in downtown Macon, so I grew up on the streets of downtown Macon — but my real passion for seeing the design blossom downtown was probably during those early years, 2007 to about 2010.”

Treadwell said her motivation to take on volunteer and pro bono work stretches back even further — to high school, when she first recognized the value of showcasing what landscape architects can do outside of paid work.

“Even when I was in high school and the PTA would say can you bake the cookies, I’d go no, but I can organize a plant project,” she said. “I really want people to understand the impact of good design, good quality trees and plants and open space.”

That philosophy shapes which projects she accepts today.

“I have the opportunity, or the blessing, to take projects that I know are going to be interesting, impactful, that benefit the community,” she said. “I’m at that point in my life where I can take fun projects — and when I can give back, it’s really important.”

Bi-Centennial Park, she said, was designed as a passive park — walking trails, open space and shade — built to work with the natural grade of the land with minimal excavation. The park is handicap accessible and features multiple entrances.

“It’s why I really want people to understand the impact of good design,” she said.

This year, the Macon-Bibb Earth Day Committee named Treadwell its 2026 Community Champion, recognizing her decades of community-focused design work, including multiple pro bono projects.

Treadwell said she also mentors high school students interested in landscape architecture and sees growth in how Macon residents value design.

“Since my tenure here in the community, people recognize that it’s important to have good design and the quality,” she said. “There are some young people moving back that are going to just do great things.”

Her next project involves expanding trails from Bi-Centennial Park into Rose Hill Cemetery, portions of which are not currently open to the public.

“The history is unbelievable,” Treadwell said. “That’s going to be the fun next project.”