Plans to tear down the family home of Atlanta’s first black mayor – Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. – is causing an uproar in the historic Vine City community.The three-story apartment building at 220 Sunset Ave. is adjacent to the home at 234 Sunset Ave. where Martin Luther King Jr. lived until he was assassinated.
Tag: historic preservation
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With lawsuit settled, it’s time to preserve Paschal’s and Gaines Hall
For nearly five years, the city of Atlanta has been in a legal battle with Clark Atlanta University over the ownership rights of nearly 13 acres of land in the heart of Westside community.On April 18, the two sides lay down their arms and agreed to a settlement where the city agreed to pay $750,000 in legal fees that CAU had incurred due to the litigation (in which CAU won every case).
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Sad song: ‘The Old Town Road’ ends at Margaritaville
By King Williams Any day now, the city of Atlanta will approve the demolition permits for 141 Walton Street and 152 Nassau Street, home of the first-recorded country music song. This demolition is for the construction of a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville Bar and Hotel. The irony is that we are witnessing another large moment in […]
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We need to preserve our historic treasures on Peachtree Street
Be on the lookout.
Several historic buildings along Peachtree in downtown and Midtown are in jeopardy – facing an uncertain future as development encroaches on Atlanta’s most famous street.
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Tim Keane to Atlanta: No more ugly buildings; focus on quality design
When it comes to urban design, it’s a new day for Atlanta.
Atlanta’s Planning Commissioner Tim Keane wants our developers and architects to step up their game. And he’s willing to hold up their projects if they don’t live up to higher quality design standards.
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Georgia Trust’s 2019 ‘Places in Peril’ list includes two Atlanta theaters
Two historic theaters in Atlanta made it on the Georgia Trust of Historic Preservation’s 2019 Places in Peril list – the Madison Theatre in East Atlanta and Rhodes Center in Midtown.
The formal presentation of the list will occur Wednesday evening at a reception at Rhodes Hall at 1516 Peachtree St. N.W.
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Plans to widen U.S 17 near Brunswick would ease access to Golden Isles
A highway expansion project near Brunswick will require the use of land that’s part of the historic Hofwyl-Broadfield rice plantation. The road project is to improve access from I-95 to the Golden Isles and the regional airport.
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Historic Gaines Hall crumbles while Invest Atlanta seeks to stabilize it
Exactly three years ago, a fire damaged the historic Gaines Hall on the golden hill on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Then Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed pledged to save Gaines Hall.
Now three years later, little has been done to stabilize, much less restore, Gaines Hall, built in 1869.
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Georgia Trust seeks buyer for 1883’s ‘Most elegant country home in Middle Georgia’
Wanted: a preservation-minded buyer to acquire and rehabilitate a treasure in Madison, Ga. that was on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2018 “Places in Peril” list.
The Georgia Trust and the Madison-Morgan Conservancy are looking for a buyer to purchase and rehabilitate the Foster-Thomason-Miller House in Madison, located at 498 South Main Street.
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Margaritaville, hotel development slated to demolish two historic buildings
Two historic buildings will be demolished if the proposed development of a 21-story hotel and Margaritaville resort and restaurant overlooking Centennial Olympic Park is approved.
The Downtown Development Review Committee met Thursday morning at the offices of Central Atlanta Progress where architects described why the developer is seeking six zoning variances for the proposed design.
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Georgia Trust buys three parcels near Westside BeltLine
It’s a new day for the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, which purchased three properties near the Atlanta BeltLine’s Westside trail in Washington Park and Mozley Park.
The Georgia Trust closed on the purchases Thursday – two houses and a vacant lot – with the intent of renovating the two homes and developing a new house on the vacant lot – all while keeping the properties affordable.
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City of Atlanta moves to protect the Patterson-Spring Hill funeral home in Midtown
Update: The Urban Design Commission, at its Jan. 24 meeting, deferred action on this designation until its meeting on Feb. 14 at the request of the owner. The protections will remain in place during this period.
An Atlanta landmark built to serve the dead will soon get a new lease on life.
The City of Atlanta is seeking to give the H.M. Patterson Funeral Home on Spring Street near 10th Street landmark status – a move that will protect the unique building from being demolished for new development.
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Auburn Avenue’s long-awaited history, cultural project moving forward
A walk along Auburn Avenue can be described as inspirational, even spiritual. Soon the words educational and attractive may be added. A highlight of a pending beautification project is a huge mural and 10 big light boxes that are to tell the corridor’s history.
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Demolition of Jordan Hall another sign of Atlanta’s dereliction of historic buildings
By Guest Columnist JAY SCOTT, a principal at Green Rock Partners, an Atlanta-based firm specializing in urban design, landscape architecture and planning
The Metro Atlanta YMCA is about to destroy a significant part of civil rights history in the African American Community, historic Jordan Hall. They are not doing it alone.
Their primary partners are the Woodruff Foundations and Invest Atlanta, who have given more than half of the $20 million necessary.
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Photo Pick: Atlanta Civic Center 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 […]
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Georgia Trust’s tour of Southwest Atlanta helps us appreciate the history in our town
Frances Westbrook of Brookhaven was having lunch Saturday in Adair Park – a southwest Atlanta community that she did not know before signing up for the Georgia Trust’s Southwest Atlanta Expedition.
“I thought it would an excellent opportunity to see this area, which I had never been to before,” said Westbrook, who has also been on the Atlanta BeltLine tour. “It’s really a superb opportunity to get to know another part of Atlanta.”
More than 200 people visited the 20-plus sites on the Southwest Atlanta tour – which included houses, industrial buildings and some of the incredible academic institutions that have anchored the communities for more than 100 years.
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Photo Pick: Southwest Atlanta by Chad Carlson
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.
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Oakland Cemetery restores graves in African American Grounds; seeks volunteers on MLK day
Oakland Cemetery has restored the graves of two black women who accomplished the unthinkable at the turn of the 20th century. One was graduated from medical school and her sister served as a lawyer and professor at Morris Brown College.
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Lithonia promotes rock solid revitalization
By Guest Columnist MELODY HARCLERODE, who promotes significant historical, cultural, and natural sites as an architect, non-profit consultant, and writer
The city of Atlanta receives much press as the financial, cultural, and transportation hub of the metropolitan area, yet small cities in this region also offer amazing stories for the public to appreciate. Consider the city of Lithonia, a town with approximately 2,000 residents covering a radius of one square mile of land north of I-20 and outside I-285.
