Historic Georgia Baptist Hospital is now rubble

Three men walked into a meeting — a preservationist, a developer and the head of a demolition company.

The topic was the historic Georgia Baptist property, which is being redeveloped by the Integral Group.

We met in the offices of Barry Roberts, founder and an executive of Atlanta Demolition, which is clearing the site of the former hospital with the firm FERMA. 

Eric Pinckney, an Integral executive and project manager for what will be known as BLVD Next, was happy to convene a meeting so he could explain the decision to clear the site.

Joining us on Nov. 12 was David Y. Mitchell, a fervent preservationist who seldom has much good to say about companies involved in tearing down our history.

I expected fireworks and name-calling. But instead of a showdown, the three men spoke respectfully to each other, showing they had torn down the walls of disagreement by communicating with a spirit of mutual understanding.

“It should be acknowledged that rather than being at loggerheads in the process of pre-demolition, we were able to explore and create an opportunity to respect the history of the space,” Mitchell said.

The different sides came together after SaportaReport posted a column urging for the preservation of the most historic building on the former campus of Georgia Baptist Hospital. 

Here is a photo collage by Delaney Tarr when we toured the site in June.

The hospital had been acquired in 2016 by the Cobb-based Wellstar, which decided to close the facility in 2022 because it was losing money. 

Wellstar then partnered with Integral to redevelop the 22-acre property.

“The building we thought we were saving was not the original building,” Pinckney said. “It had been altered so many times. There were elements of the original. After meeting with David Mitchell, we decided we’d save the portico and the first two floors of the lobby.”

Integral, Atlanta Demolition and Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, have been meeting since July to explore various ways to save the most historic elements of the structure.

“There were physical challenges,” Pinckney said. “The door, the beautiful sign that said Georgia Baptist on top of it, had metal clad on top of wood that was hollow because it had been eaten by termites. The thought was always let’s take off the façade and keep it saved. 

But when Robert’s demolition crew “carefully removed the façade,” they realized the original structure had been built with “weak” concrete.

“There were voids underneath the footings that we didn’t know about,” Pinckney said. “When we went to touch it, it crumbled.”

But all was not lost. When Mitchell first met with Pinckney and Roberts, he suggested they complete a “geospatial” location study with Georgia Tech students and experts. The analysis would be able to pinpoint exactly where the building once stood, with its dimensions and detailed photos of the structure.

The Atlanta Preservation Center absorbed the cost of the geospatial analysis and developed the partnership with the Georgia Tech School of Architecture.

Rick White, a spokesman for Integral and the development, said Wellstar Health System also contributed by supporting extensive efforts to capture the multifaceted history of Georgia Baptist — from archives revealed in a time capsule, to storytelling of the people who had worked at the hospital, former patients, as well as a wide swath of community representatives.

The developers plan to publish Georgia Baptists’ history, which is being written by Dr. Kevin Sparrow from Georgia State University.

“Wellstar, Integral, Atlanta Demolition and Ferma are committed to making sure that the weight and significance of Georgia Baptist is captured historically,” Pinckney said. “At least two of [Martin Luther King Jr.’s] children were born here.”

But the geospatial analysis was key.

“Because of the photos and the scans that Georgia Tech provided, we were able to preserve parts of it,” Pinckney said. 

“We saved the cladding and the marble façade, and the entire ornate structure that made it unique,” Roberts said. “It’s in a container.”

“Traditionally, this is not what a company would allocate resources to,” Mitchell said.

Sitting in the room with the three men was inspiring. Real relationships had been formed between them, and they were not going away.

“David came, and he’s not leaving,” Pinckney said. “The preservation of the history, even though most of the historical building has come down, the restoration of the important elements is possible because of the coordination with David Mitchell and the Atlanta Preservation Center. He made us save more things than we would have saved on our own.”

Later, Pinckney added, “We paused long enough so we can replicate the historical significance of Georgia Baptist Hospital.”

Roberts said that preservationists and community leaders often stand on the sidelines, criticizing how developers are insensitive to the places being redeveloped.

“David was standing on the sidewalk, saying: ‘Can we talk?’” Roberts said. “He was open to collaboration.”

Roberts has seen situations break down when people aren’t communicating.

“Frustration starts when people don’t think they’re being heard. That frustration leads to anger,” Roberts said. “One reason we have been able to have a smoothly run site, people have been heard. When people think they’re being heard, rarely does that frustration lead to anger.”

So, what made this project different for Mitchell, who runs the most vocal preservation organization in Atlanta?

“There’s a local component,” Mitchell said. “We are all from this locale. When you have people who are not from here, they are not burdened by a sense of identity. They see it as a transaction and move on. We are now going to be able to create a precedent through this for future developments to be inclusive in this manner. The return on investment on this is Atlanta.”

Pinckney said that commitment is shared by Egbert Perry, CEO of the Integral Group, which has not always been a friend of preservation in Atlanta.

“For Egbert, it’s about place-making. It’s not how much money you throw at it. It is what makes the place special — the historical context and the physical location,” Pinckney said. “That’s what we’re going to preserve. We are going to recreate the frontage and the portico. 

“The first preference is to have it be in the original location. We will know the exact location thanks to the geospatial study,” he continued. “We will continue to partner with the Atlanta Preservation Center and others. There’s more than one keeper of history.”

At the site where the original 1926 hospital stood, a cluster of trees and a lawn has provided respite of greenery in a block overloaded with concrete. The agreement with the city and the community was to keep the beautiful trees that are part of the property along Boulevard. But the trees in the center of the block are vulnerable, partly because the City of Atlanta has given Integral and Atlanta Demolition permission to cut down those trees.

Pinckney said the developers don’t know how much trauma the trees have withstood over decades of adorning the site.

“Just because the trees have been marked doesn’t mean we will remove them,” Roberts said. “It’s in the city’s interest to mark down a tree [to be removed because the city receives recompense for every tree that’s cut down], Roberts said. “I’m going to do everything I can to save them. I live here. Atlanta is in the name of my company. Sometimes you do things just because it’s the right thing to do. It’s not just philanthropic. It’s good for my business to know that I care for the community.”

The obvious question is what happens next to the property.

Pinckney said Integral and Wellstar have decided to be “patient” so they can develop a project that benefits the community.

“What I want to bring here are jobs. There were thousands of jobs that were lost,” Pinckney said. “It will be mixed-use: residential, office, retail, research. We are looking for an anchor tenant. We are talking to developers.”

Mitchell chimed in.

“They are doing things that are not usually done,” he said of Integral and Atlanta Demolition. “People can disagree, but we can still live in harmony.”

But for Mitchell, he hopes this collaborative approach can become a part of an Atlanta model for future developments.

“We are now going to be able to create a precedent through this for future developments to be inclusive in this manner,” Mitchell said. “We live in a time when everyone wants to talk about failure. And this is a success.”