Former Albany Tomorrow Director Thomas Chatmon remembered as man of integrity

ORLANDO, Fla. — Leave it to his good friend Glenn Singfield to offer the best, most fitting epitaph for former Albany Tomorrow CEO Thomas Chatmon, who died here over the weekend.

“There wouldn’t be an Albany today without Albany Tomorrow,” Singfield said of the downtown Albany redevelopment organization that Chatmon headed. “And there wouldn’t have been an Albany Tomorrow without Tommy Chatmon.”

Chatmon, who died after a long illness, was 68.

A deeply saddened Singfield, who with his family is owner/operator of popular Albany dining establishments Albany Fish Co. and The Flint and is the owner/CEO of Artesian Contracting Co., said he visited his good friend recently and knew his time was running out.

“He was in so much pain; Tommy was hurting,” Singfield said. “But while I was with him, all he talked about was his family, about making sure they were taken care of.

“That’s the kind of man Tommy was. The value he brought to others, the integrity, class and style he exhibited, is irreplaceable. He was truly an awesome individual.”

When Albany officials decided to make a dramatic push to revitalize the city’s ghost town of a downtown through the private-public arm dubbed Albany Tomorrow Inc., Chatmon was named the group’s first executive director. He helped spearhead a redevelopment plan that included construction of the Hilton Garden Inn hotel, parking garages for downtown workers, the Flint RiverQuarium attraction, and the Dougherty County School Board’s administration building.

Chatmon left Albany for Orlando in 2007 after being named executive director of the Florida city’s Downtown Development Board.

Singfield said funeral arrangements had not been completed by Monday afternoon.

“He went through a lot, and he just couldn’t take it anymore,” Singfield said. “I’m going to miss my friend. He did a lot of good things in his life. There just aren’t many like him.”

Photo Courtesy Glenn Singfield