On Feb. 25, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation released its 2026 ‘Places in Peril’ list for significant historic properties at risk of demolition or neglect – and Egleston Hall has made the list.
It’s a hot topic among preservationists because All Saints’ Episcopal Church is considering a plan that could demolish the 1918 Gothic Revival building. In May 2025, Church Rector Rev. Dr. Simon Mainwaring released a long-awaited Campus Master Plan to reimagine the church block and create a new Egleston Ministry Center.
But there are only two real options on the table: A total demolition of Egleston Hall and the creation of a new building, or an adaptive reuse of the existing space.
Mainwaring has been clear that the church has not made a decision yet. On Feb. 9, he announced the church selected architecture firm Perkins & Will to work on the “first phase of completion” of the master plan. The firm will undertake a comprehensive survey and assess the structural integrity to determine the future of Egleson Hall.
“Before All Saints’ makes any decisions regarding Egleston Hall, we are working with architects to carry out a conditions assessment of the building that will be completed later in the spring,” Mainwaring said.
But the move still makes preservationists nervous because demolition is on the table. In a recent interview, Atlanta Preservation Center Executive Director David Y. Mitchell said he expects an outcome where “the juice ain’t worth the squeeze.”
President and CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation W. Wright Mitchell echoed the sentiment.
“While I don’t think they have reached any conclusion on which way to go, it always makes preservationists nervous when there is any consideration of demolishing a historic building,” Wright Mitchell said. “Because that’s on the table here, that’s why we have listed Egleston Hall on our Places in Peril list.”
Mitchell said the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation had an “initial meeting” with Mainwaring and the Church to talk about Places in Peril, and “what it means to adaptively reuse the space” instead of destroying it. He plans to meet with the architects soon, too.
In a Feb. 2 newsletter to parishioners, Mainwaring announced Egleston would make the Places in Peril list. He also said the church had begun meeting with the Trust, “a wonderful organization that is thinking alongside us.”
“Egleston is being named on (Places in Peril,) which we welcome as it will allow us to draw from Georgia Trust’s extensive experience in this field as we work through how to marry our vision for the future with the significant challenges the current building has resulting from extensive damage Egleston Hall suffered during recent construction work in the area,” Mainwaring said.
Mitchell acknowledged the damage, which he said came from work Norfolk Southern did on the neighboring building. But he said it is damage that can be fixed – especially using an insurance settlement awarded to the church to cover the cost of repairs.
“The building is not so compromised that it’s in danger of falling in on itself,” Mitchell said. “Our position is that the building ought to be repaired structurally, and then the interior of the building ought to be functionally adapted to their current needs.”
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is focused primarily on the exterior of the building. Mitchell said the interior, as he understands, can be radically altered to fit the modern church. But the entire building must be preserved.
“Historic Buildings have to change and have to be adapted, but it doesn’t mean the solution is to tear it down and build something new,” Mitchell said. “You do that, then you’ve eliminated that tangible link to your past, and that (new) building is going to become outdated at some point as well.”
On the Places in Peril list, Egleston Hall is described as a “historic Gothic Revival building” created under the Akron Plan, a once-popular Protestant educational design that allowed flexible instruction through movable partitions surrounding a central hall. It is a “unique architectural feature” that Mitchell said doesn’t really exist in Atlanta anymore.
It historically served as a center for worship, education and performance. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was also home to dozens of recording sessions for prominent musicians like Blind Willie McTell. Today it is one of the least used parts of the church campus.
But Mitchell pointed to another piece of history: In the 1960s, All Saints’ Church held a capital campaign to update parts of the campus and Egleston hall to “make it more functional for their needs.” He thinks it is time for the church to do it again.
“Our position is the building ought to be repaired structurally, and then the interior of the building ought to be functionally adapted to their current needs,” Wright said.
With Egleston Hall on the Places in Peril list, Mitchell hopes to bring “preservation solutions to Georgia’s imperiled historic resources.”
But for Mitchell, adaptive reuse is the obvious solution. He said constructionally typically costs more – adaptive reuse is “nine times out of 10” more economical to address these situations, according to the executive director.
“They’ve got, in my opinion, not a difficult decision to make, because if you look at the way the campus was designed, it’s clear that Egleston Hall was intended to be an integral part of the campus,” Mitchell said. “If you eliminate Egleston Hall, you’re really diminishing the integrity of the campus.”
The full 2026 Places in Peril list of 10 historic spaces is available at georgiatrust.org.
