Building as sculpture and catcher of light and shadow. Photo by Chad Carlson
According to reports this week, the Civic Center could avoid demolition. The previous status was grim, but the city is back in talks about preserving this building. The following excerpt is from Maria’s column this week:
“Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is exploring “reactivating” the 18-acre Civic Center site and possibly putting it back on the market.
“We will have an announcement about the future of the Civic Center by the end of this month,” Reed told Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 19. A proposal by Houston developer Weingarten Realty to redevelop the site as a $298 million mixed-used project collapsed last October.
Reed said he is exploring several options including a public-private joint venture with the Atlanta Housing Authority to build a significant affordable workforce housing development on the site.”
Take a look at some of the photos Chad Carlson, reader & preservation activist, sent in this weekend. He says “buildings like these are best appreciated as a form of sculpture.”
What do you think?
Chad Carlson shares highlights of some of the historic industrial buildings in southwest Atlanta from yesterday’s Georgia Trust tour. It was a fantastic tour, with over 200 registrants, which included a wide section of buildings, including residences and industrial buildings. – Maria wrote a preview here if you want more details about the tour.
Atlanta Pride 2016 by Chad Carlson
Reed and Georgia Avenues by Chad Carlson
Comment from Chad: “At Reed and Georgia Avenues. Next to Turner Field. Human scale, pedestrian oriented, historic buildings, providing a distinct look for the area. Hopefully, the new developer will understand the importance of these buildings to the built environment.”
At Murphy Avenue in southwest Atlanta. The film industry thrives on authenticity, and this area of Southwest Atlanta at Murphy Avenue and Sylvan Road has it in spades.
Swimming pool at Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill lofts in Cabbagetown by Chad Carlson
Fulton Co Library by Chad Carlson
More from Chad: “The Fulton County Commission is once again calling for the demolition of the Fulton County Library. It is a fantastic example of the style of Brutalism—from the French, “breton brut,” which means raw concrete. The building was listed by the World Monuments Fund as an architectural treasure in 2010. Designed by Marcel Breuer in 1980, the building is best appreciated as sculpture.”
740 Ralph McGill by Chad Carlson
At Murphy Ave. in SW Atlanta by Chad Carlson
“Waiting for the BeltLine” at Adair Park Ciderfest by Chad Carlson
Booker T. Washington High band at MLK drive and the Beltline construction. Angel Poventud’s BeltLine walk group in foreground. (Photo by Chad Carlson)
Arthur Blank says he is committed to honoring the history around the stadium. This is tailor made (Photo by Chad Carlson)
From Chad (with a couple of edits):
“We the citizens of Atlanta bought this building earlier this year. Not to save it would be a tragedy. It is one of the oldest buildings in the city – (1869) on the campus of one of the first African American higher educational institutions – the Atlanta University Center (Spelman, Morehouse, Morris Brown, Clark Atlanta). This building significance is beyond its beauty. It was where W.E.B. DuBois gained fame as a professor at Atlanta University. His book, “The Souls of Black Folk,” was a clarion call for black consciousness around the world. He was as important for African American determination in the first half of the 20th century, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was to the second.”
Margaret Mitchell House by Chad Carlson
From Chad Carlson: Margaret Mitchell House, 1989. Margaret Mitchell and her husband, John Marsh, lived in the basement apartment. She wrote Gone With the Wind in that apartment. Daimler Benz Mercedes saved the house in 1996. Numerous attempts were made to burn it down by arsonists during the rehabilitation. It was used as a reception place for Germany during the Olympics.
Front room at the Atlanta Preservation Center by Chad Carlson
Front room at the Atlanta Preservation Center (APC) on St. Paul. Ave. in Grant Park. The fireplace surround was found buried in the backyard during the rehabilitation of this home which was built by L.P. Grant in the 1850s. One of only a few pre-Civil War homes left in metro Atlanta. L.P. Grant built the fortifications around the city during the Civil War and donated the land which is now Grant Park. The house was once owned by Margaret Mitchell and golf legend Bobby Jones was born in the back bedroom. The APC takes a less is more approach to preservation. The walls you see in this room are original to the house. This approach–revealing the authenticicy of the house–is called a “reveal.”
Paschal’s on MLK Drive by Chad Carlson
Paschal’s is located at the intersection of MLK and Paschal Blvd. Chad Carlson took this photo last week standing across the street. The tall building behind it was the adjoining hotel.
Chad writes: “People should be more aware of this, especially since they are proposing a complete revamp of MLK, from the stadium to I-285. What happened here resonates in places as far away as South Africa. Correatta Scott King had said that the significance to the Civil Rights movement of this buiding is akin to Fanueil Hall in Boston to the American Revolution.”
He also shared this recent article from the Washington Post about Paschal’s: Paschal’s, once a civil rights landmark, is in tatters.
Fort McPherson Photo by Chad Carlson
Westview Cemetery gate, at RDA Blvd. and Westview Drive, circa 1890. by Chad Carlson
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