Envisioning a new MLK Blvd. gateway to downtown Macon: A bevy of burgeoning architects gathered on a vacant lot along Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. last week as Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Paul Bronson issued a challenge. 

Patrick Turner wipes a bead of sweat from his brow as he carefully eyes a meticulously notched plank of wood, and pulls the trigger on his nail gun. He...