All Saints’ Episcopal Church has stood at the corner of North Avenue and West Peachtree Street in Midtown for 120 years, making it one of the city’s oldest and most enduring structures.
While All Saints’ has expanded and modernized over the last century, the Gothic sandstone main church, completed in 1906, and Egleston Hall, built in 1918, make up the most historic aspect of the campus.
However, as the church faces declining attendance, costly maintenance, and accessibility issues, the future of Egleston Hall is uncertain. Local preservationists are, as expected, alarmed by the potential demolition of the structure.
On Feb. 25, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation will announce its annual list of Places in Peril across the state, including Egleston Hall.
Rector Simon Mainwaring said the church has hired architectural firm Perkins and Will to assess Egleston Hall and its future.
“Before All Saints’ makes any decisions regarding Egleston Hall we are working with architects to carry out a thorough conditions assessment of the building that will be completed later in the spring,” Mainwaring said in a statement to Rough Draft.
In his weekly newsletter on Feb. 23, Mainwaring acknowledged the inclusion of Egleston Hall on the Places in Peril list.
“We are grateful for the leadership of the Trust as they work with us as we assess the condition of Egleston as a structure that has suffered significant structural damage, offer our mutual appreciation of its historic nature, and consider All Saints’ missional priorities to partner with our core ministries, be a leader in the Episcopal Church in church music, and resource our parish and staff with accessible and welcoming spaces fit for purpose,” Mainwaring said in the newsletter. “Our architects, Perkins and Will, are meeting with the Georgia Trust in early March and we are excited to work alongside them.”
Mainwaring said Perkins and Will has been holding “listening sessions” with the church staff and representatives of its core ministries to determine the needs and “vision” for the future of Egleston.
A new master plan for the All Saints’ campus envisions an “Egleston Ministry Center” to house its core ministries – Midtown Assistance Center, Threads, Covenant Community non-residential programs, and Refugee Ministries – as part of an effort to grow the church by offering more community assistance.
Egleston Hall is currently home to All Saints’ clergy and program staff offices, music suite, parish library, and archives. The building also serves as the main entry point for the church during the week.
“As we study Egleston’s future as a building, it is essential that we listen to what has most been of value in how the people of this parish and city have utilized it and kept on recreating Egleston so we might better imagine what could be possible there into the future,” Mainwaring said in the newsletter.
In a statement to Rough Draft, Atlanta Preservation Center Executive Director David Y. Mitchell had this to say about Egleston Hall:
Francisco Goya painted a depiction of the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus, whom the Romans called Saturn, eating one of his children out of fear of a prophecy by Gaea that one of his children would overthrow him. This image is a constant for me as I see this as a depiction of Atlanta’s relationship with Historic Preservation. This is why we are so fortunate to still have All Saints’ Church with Egleston Hall defining a period of Atlanta for over a hundred years.
When thinking of All Saints as a building that holds immense worth as a spiritual community, a divine institution with a commingling of the body of Christ and Christian faith, serving to fulfill All Saints’ mission and connecting Atlanta with Episcopalians who have stewarded this long-standing part of our visual landscape. It is heartening to believe that Egleston Hall will continue to be a part of that work.
A group of parishioners and non-parishioners concerned about the preservation of Egleston Hall has launched a website, Friends of Egleston Hall.
The website notes that during its long history, Egleston hosted civil rights gatherings, meetings on the full inclusion of women in the life of the church, and on LGBTQ+ equality and a compassionate response to the AIDS epidemic. The hall also served as a recording studio in 1932 for legendary performances by Blind Willie McTell and The Carter Family.
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