May begins Historic Preservation Month and it should be the time to better appreciate the value of America’s historic places as definers of our national character. We should be advocating and encouraging thoughtful preservation of Atlanta, now more than ever.
The mayor’s proposed $853.8 million budget lacks any serious funding for historic preservation.
Historic preservation is accepted as a key component for a thriving livable community that can support varied and rich experiences. Understanding how to retain historic character and cultural diversity should be embraced as a universal goal, and we are all indebted to those who had the foresight and self-determination to protect and steward the interests of Atlanta.
Since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Atlanta has been recognized as the city of the New South, yet it is simultaneously a city riddled with a legacy of anti-preservation.
As an urban forest and a city of distinct neighborhoods, Atlanta prioritized development over preserved memory. Within its rapid growth, complex or contested sites were often discarded or disguised.
In many ways, Atlanta’s architectural dysphoria meant that the city’s development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was eclectic, with an almost regional character to many of the neighborhoods.
Yet, while white areas were being protected with historic district listings following the energy of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act, Black areas were being demolished.
For example, east of Downtown Atlanta, the residential area connected to the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill (operations began in 1881; closed 1977), known as Cabbagetown and historically home to white laborers from Appalachia, was added as a Historic District within the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. In 1979, Cabbagetown became Atlanta’s first Landmark District.
Almost directly to the west, the architecturally minimal but precisely detailed modernist blocks of University Homes, the first federally funded public housing project in the United States for African American families, were drastically altered in the 1980s, despite being part of the Atlanta University Historic District.
These changes later provided the rationale for the 2009 demolition of the site due to compromised historical integrity.
Below is all I could locate on historic preservation in the FY2025 proposed budget:
Under the Office of Housing and Community Development (part of the Department of City Planning), on page 366, one goal is to “Inspire new designations of legacy establishments by identifying them and weaving them into the historic fabric that is the story of Atlanta.”
Page 367, under subhead of Historic Preservation Studio, a list of 2024 accomplishments:
- Continued with the implementation of the Future Places Project, which is the city’s comprehensive assessment of historic preservation to ensure Atlanta retains its authenticity.
- Guided by the project’s Call to Action, the Historic Preservation Studio completed several new designation efforts: Old Stone Church (Candler Park neighborhood); Fulton County World War I Memorial (Midtown neighborhood); held several workshops and public education events to expand the conversation of historic preservation in Atlanta.
- These sessions focused on Atlanta’s historic cemeteries, historic homeowner education, and providing grassroots preservation groups a platform to share their work. Staff started attending local and neighborhood festivals and had one-on-one conversations with the public about preservation and unique places in Atlanta.
- Staff continued engaging with stakeholders and building partnerships that will allow us to tell the important stories of Atlanta’s African American citizens from the Antebellum, Reconstruction, Civil Rights, and modern periods.
- Completed the city’s first LGBTQ+ Historic Context Statement, making it one of the few cities in the United States with such a context. In partnership with Historic Atlanta and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the Studio prepared for the implementation of the project’s recommendations.
- Participated in the Atlanta Design Festival (along with the Public Space Studio and the Collier Heights community) through the Collier Heights Historic District in Northwest Atlanta tour.
- Completed a survey of Atlanta’s burial grounds, advancing the work program of the Atlanta Cemetery Network.
- Provided technical support and analysis regarding the historic preservation and memorialization aspects of the Public Safety Training Facility.
Page 370 includes proposed fiscal year 2025 highlights by the Historic Preservation Studio:
- Continue to promote the identification, evaluation, rehabilitation, adaptive use, and responsible restoration of the city’s historic resources and expand who and what is a part of the historic preservation conversation.
- Activities will include the following: continue to implement the Future Places Project by researching and implementing new regulatory and incentive tools and developing new partnerships to expand the reach of the city’s historic preservation program.
- Designating new Historic and Landmark Districts as well as individual buildings, particularly those that elevate the city’s African American heritage, the LGBTQ+ movement, and lesser-known stories in the city’s history, and expanding outreach and education activities about Atlanta’s history and historic resources.
- Outreach would include:
- Creating manuals, handbooks, design guidelines, and resources to assist the public in understanding and stewarding Atlanta’s architectural and cultural history;
- Developing web-based maps (including GIS and Story Maps) where the public can access information about their buildings and learn more about the City’s Landmark/Historic buildings and sites;
- Hosting a Historic Homeowner Exhibition/Fair and summer lecture series for presentations from regional and national preservation experts;
- Expanding our partnerships with historic preservation advocacy groups to create tours and new ways of sharing information on the city’s architectural and cultural history (walking tours, pamphlets, “passport” programs like National Park Service, etc.);
- Expanding the Atlanta Cemetery Network to continue elevating our historic cemeteries as an important cultural asset woven in with the city’s complex landscape;
- Building support and resources to proactively assist communities and partners in understanding and navigating the City’s designation processes. • Launch African American Heritage Initiative;
- Inaugurate the City of Atlanta Oral History Program.
That is all I could find out of 638 pages and I know that this is NOT enough and I beseech City Planning Commissioner Jahnee Prince and members of the city council to do more.
As an example of what is needed, look at the 2019 Sweet Auburn National Historic Landmark District assessment. It concludes with this:
Through the development of the administrative history of the district’s formation and changes to the district over the last 40 years, and informed by the building survey and input from the stakeholders and public, five specific areas were identified that reflect the threats facing the future health of the Sweet Auburn NHLD.
These include encroaching development, vacant properties and buildings, incompatible construction, weak boundary areas, and lack of a local archaeology ordinance. The district has lost nearly half of its contributing buildings and three of its prominent buildings remain vacant and in danger of demolition by neglect. The district has seen a loss of integrity since its designation in 1976 and is in danger of losing additional integrity in the near future if the impending threats are not addressed.
The Sweet Auburn NHLD holds national significance as a place of historic African American institutional and community buildings. It represents the achievements of African American leaders of the city, state, and nation and was an important part of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s formative years.
Its history represents a significant part of our shared past and serves to inform future generations of the stories of segregation, entrepreneurship, the civil rights movement, and organizations that strengthened the community and provided leadership and support throughout its history. It can only continue doing so if what remains is preserved and its integrity can be maintained.
Atlanta is dynamic, it is unique and it truly has no equal. That can only be maintained by standards and stewardship. I ask the city to represent those that no longer exist, those that do not yet exist, and those that exist now to ensure that we retain and grow our culture, our identity and our very purpose with additional support of Historic Preservation.
