If there’s something everyone can agree on, it’s that Downtown’s Atlanta’s main library is in sad shape. The news that bathroom renovations are coming drew some cheers from folks at the library Wednesday night, though they had little positive to say of new windows and new tenants sketched out for the landmark building.
By Guest Columnist KLAUS VAN DEN BERG, a consultant with CITYperformance
The Atlanta Civic Center, a mega-venue that sports a 4,600-seat auditorium and a separate exhibition hall on a 19-acre site in the Old Fourth Ward, was sold to the Atlanta Housing Authority in late 2017. Former Mayor Kasim Reed, who had already sold significant land parcels to developers, closed the Civic Center deal without requiring the development of a new vision for the site that does justice to its historic significance. The sale itself proceeded mostly outside of public view after the collapse of a deal with a private developer.
When the City of Atlanta sold the 19-acre Civic Center site to the Atlanta Housing Authority for $31 million, the deal occurred with virtually no public involvement.
It was a deal struck by two public officials – Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Catherine Buell, president and CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority.
One legacy Mayor Kasim Reed is to leave for his successor is the potentially thorny issue of Confederate monuments and street names. If the experience of New Orleans replays in Atlanta, the issue could roil for years to come.
The U.S. Supreme Court has given the governor of Mississippi extra time to defend the Confederate battle on his state’s flag. The response had been due Thursday, but the state sought an extension because its law department is busy defending the pending state take-over of the Jackson public school district and a challenge of the state’s parole board by a murderer/arsonist.
Two Atlanta architects whose imprints have shaped the city’s landscape – John Portman and Henri Jova – have been honored through the listing of signature developments on the Georgia Register of Historic Places. The placement makes the properties eligible for state tax incentives and grants.
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.
The Fox Theatre Institute has extended the application deadline for a grant program that is offering up to $500,000 in grants to restore historic theaters across Georgia.
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?
Amid general support for landmarking Kirkwood’s Pullman Yard, a city panel hearing the idea delayed a vote while they await historic details on at least one building.
The state’s plan to sell Pullman Yard without any requirements to preserve any of the 11 buildings or land has prompted the Kirkwood Neighborhood Association to begin an effort to have historic conditions applied to the property before it is sold.
This week neighbors from Kirkwood and preservation professionals gathered to protest the sale and possible destruction of the historic buildings. Special thanks to members of the Atlanta Preservation Alliance for these stunning images: Chad Carlson, Charles Lawrence & Derek Anderson.
A lawyer for the state issued a tersely worded letter to Atlanta regarding the city’s efforts to protect the historic buildings and site at the state-owned Pullman Yard. Atlanta was advised to drop its preservation effort, or expect to square off with the state and its backing from Georgia’s attorney general.
The coming of a new year heightens our sensitivity to the changes in our life and our city.
This year marked the last Peach Drop as we know it. Sadly, the rain and the cold dampened the final event held at Underground Atlanta before it is sold to WRS Realty in the near future.
The good news is that the historic structures in and around Underground will be preserved as new buildings are constructed as part of the new development.
But there are so many other landmarks in danger of being demolished during 2017 with Atlanta having a spotty record of preserving its most precious landmarks.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new photos by Kelly Jordan.
Emory University’s plans to partner with a developer to reopen the Briarcliff Mansion, once home to a Coca-Cola heir, as a hotel and event facility were approved Dec. 15 by Georgia’s State Properties Commission, according to a report by emory.edu
As Downtown Atlanta continues its gradual expansion westward, beyond the new Falcons stadium, an iconic skyscraper near the CNN Center is being renamed and is to undergo its first renovation in 18 years.
Atlanta is taking steps to protect the historic integrity of a property best known as Pullman Yard. It’s a collection of 11 commercial buildings located on the largest single tract of land in the rapidly redeveloping Kirkwood neighborhood, east of Little Five Points.
Atlanta is poised to extend its long-standing relation with the Grant Park Conservancy to continue grooming the city’s oldest park, which was created on 100 acres donated in 1883 by Atlanta pioneer Lemuel Pratt Grant.
From Rob: “Since completion in 1913, The Ponce has shared its place in Atlanta History with the Georgian Terrace and later the Fox Theater. The Ponce’s rooftop with its sentinel lions, balustrade, and ornamentation is amazing. The foyer of the Ponce with its wooded décor and beautiful Tiffany skylight beckons you in.
That all three of these buildings are located in what is called the Fox Triangle means you have to visit and enjoy the designs and motifs here of our early 20th Century Atlantans.”
One of the most fanciful buildings in Atlanta is facing possible demolition.
Back in 1963. Atlanta-based Trust Company Bank had property to build a branch along the expressway on land sandwiched by Monroe Drive.
It hired renowned Atlanta architect Henri Jova to design a bank branch for that location.
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