A public meeting ahead of the planned demolition of two historic Georgia State University campus buildings will be held Wednesday, May 28, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Centennial Hall, 120 Auburn Ave., in room 120.
GSU plans to demolish Sparks Hall – the first building constructed for the college in 1955 and named after its first president, George Sparks – as part of its plan to revamp the Downtown campus and create more greenspace and connectivity among its facilities.
GSU also plans to demolish 148 Edgewood Avenue, a nearly century-old building in the Martin Luther King Jr. Landmark District. The Atlanta Preservation Center (ACP) said it had received no information from GSU about the future of the property beyond incorporating it into the existing parking lot.
However, after this article was published on May 9, Rough Draft was contacted by GSU officials with a new vision for the 148 Edgewood property – a small park on the footprint of the building.
According to documents provided by GSU, the park, called the Fraternity and Sorority Life Plaza (FSL Plaza), will provide students with “a larger dedicated greenspace for recreation and community-building while paying homage to Georgia State’s Greek life history as well as the history of the location.”
The park would feature a grassy lawn and a meandering paved walkway surrounded by four masonry bench seating areas dedicated to each of the university’s Greek life organizations. The park would be fenced on three sides, but open to Edgewood Avenue.
GSU said it also plans to “commemorate the façade” of 148 Edgewood with a mural on the newly exposed side of the Greek Housing building. “The mural would also pay homage to GSU’s Greek life, with the shields of each organization chartered at Georgia State arranged, in chronological order, around the image of the building façade.”
APC has come out strongly against both demolition plans.
“Sparks Hall is GSU’s flagship building,” APC Executive Director David Y. Mitchell said. “It’s just bizarre that they would tear down their first building instead of looking at adaptive reuse or preservation.”
Mitchell urged the public to come out to the hearing on May 28 and make their feelings known.
“May is Historic Preservation Month and it should be a time to better understand the value of America’s historic places as definers of our national character,” Mitchell said. “Exploring how to adaptively reuse structures and spaces that retain historic character, architectural diversity and the way to create economic development and jobs – should be embraced as a universal goal and success. Particularly for a college as contributing and significant as Georgia State University. We look forward to a vigorous debate on May 28.
This article was updated May 10 with additional information provided by Georgia State University regarding the future of property at 148 Edgewood Avenue.
