The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has released its 2019 list of 10 Places in Peril in the state.
Sites on the list include: Colquitt County Arts Center in Moultrie (Colquitt County); Glennwanis Hotel in Glennville (Tattnall County); Huston House at Butler Plantation in Darien (McIntosh County); Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Garden in Savannah (Chatham County); Madison Theatre in Atlanta (DeKalb County); Needwood Baptist Church and School in Brunswick (Glynn County); Rhodes Center South in Atlanta (Fulton County); Springfield Log Cabin School in Union Point (Taliaferro County); Stark Mill Community Building in Hogansville (Troup County); and The Cedars in Washington (Wilkes County).
“This is the Trust’s fourteenth annual Places in Peril list,” said Mark C. McDonald, president and CEO of the Trust. “We hope the list will continue to bring preservation solutions to Georgia’s imperiled historic resources by highlighting ten representative sites.”
Places in Peril is designed to raise awareness about Georgia’s significant historic, archaeological and cultural resources, including buildings, structures, districts, archaeological sites and cultural landscapes that are threatened by demolition, neglect, lack of maintenance, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy.
Through Places in Peril, the Trust will encourage owners and individuals, organizations and communities to employ proven preservation tools, financial resources and partnerships in order to reuse, reinvest and revitalize historic properties that are in peril.
Here’s a closer look at the two local historic sites on the list:
Rhodes Center South
Designed in 1937 by noted Georgia architects Ivey and Crook, Rhodes Center was Atlanta’s first strip shopping center and one of the largest real estate developments in Atlanta during the Great Depression. Rhodes Center was originally made up of three one-story buildings that ran along the north, south, and west sides of Rhodes Hall and were faced with white Georgia marble. Only the South building, which was home to the Rhodes Theatre, remains. The building is threatened by its current state of disrepair after sitting vacant and suffering neglect for many years. Despite a thriving market for commercial real estate in Midtown, there are no plans for its rehabilitation.
Madison Theatre
Opened in 1927, the Madison Theatre in East Atlanta was designed by local architects Daniell and Beutell in the popular Moorish Revival style. With over 600 seats, lavish furnishings and air conditioning, the theater ranked as one of the finest and most expensive neighborhood theaters in the South at the time. As with many neighborhood theaters, the Madison helped bridge the gap between the silent and “talkie” movie eras, serving as a community cultural resource and operating as a theater until the 1960s before later being used as a church. Since the 1980s, only smaller portions of the building have been used for commercial purposes while the larger theater space has been used for storage. There is significant potential for rehabilitation, but there are no plans to bring the theater back to its original glory.
For more about the places on the list, visit this link.