The main challenge in designing a new stage cover for O'Neal Plaza in downtown Douglasville was to provide a monumental structure that was appropriate to its historic surroundings without being literal or copying directly the materials and character of the adjacent buildings. A steel structure was chosen because steel is a historic material and yet it is modern in its form and implementation, thus carrying both connotations in an important, highly trafficked public space. The overall form also attempts to literally "bridge" the gap between historic and modern formal language. Providing adequate wind, rain, and sun cover was an important element in the development of the design as well. Since the sun sets toward the front opening of the canopy, the roof could not be extended out far enough to provide shade late in the day. Therefore we provided aesthetic extensions of the structural beams that would allow temporary decorative shading to be hung at the front of the stage if necessary. The structure itself is designed to provide hanging gantry locations for all of the equipment necessary for just about any type of stage production. And finally, the steel, from an aesthetic point of view, is intended to be evocative of the railroad tracks running adjacent to the plaza.