Friday, November 11, 2011
Guv'ment Historic southwest Atlanta church, property eyed for new library
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 9:49 AM
Over the years, residents of the surrounding southwest Atlanta neighborhoods brainstormed about uses for the 84-year-old majestic yet fading church. Maybe a performing arts center could call it home. Or perhaps a mixed-use development that would be drawn to the Atlanta Beltline, which is located just a few hundred feet to the south. But thanks to the economy, nothing's happened.
Now another one of residents' ideas for the space — a library — might have a chance. Atlanta-Fulton Library System officials on Monday said they'd like to to see the property become a new 25,000-square-foot branch to serve the Capitol View, Sylvan Hills and Pittsburgh neighborhoods, among others. They've hired a team of architects and interior designers — one of which has a very strong background in giving historic buildings a second life — to plan the project.
Among them: Smith Dalia Architects, the local firm behind the Westside's White Provisions mixed-use development, Trees Atlanta's badass Reynoldstown offices, King Plow Arts Center and the Fulton Cotton Mill Lofts; Ai3, an Atlanta-based design firm that's crafted the interiors of such restaurants as Holeman and Finch, FLIP Burger, Miller Union and others; and Craig Gaulden Davis of Greenville, S.C., which has extensive experience designing libraries.
Now, keep in mind that this deal is far from done. Library officials have merely selected the site. A library spokeswoman and Joe Laster, a co-owner of the property, told CL that negotiations to purchase the land and building are currently underway.
"I certainly hope we can work something out," says Laster, whose firm Abraham Properties purchased the property after the previous owner's plans to build low-income housing for women and children fizzled. "I think a library would be amazing there. Right now we're talking."
Neighborhood residents are thrilled at the possibility, says Laurel Rummel, secretary of Friends of Stewart-Lakewood Library, a nonprofit which years ago started urging county officials to locate a new branch in the southwest Atlanta neighborhood.
"It’s the best news we’ve had in a very very long time," Rummel says. "I’m just hoping it all falls into place."
Whether the library incorporates the historic church into the new library's design — or if the former house of worship is even able to be saved — is currently unknown. Some Capitol View residents, including Ryan Gravel, the architect who proposed the Beltline as a Georgia Tech graduate student, developed a plan that would allow the existing building to be used as a separate facility — perhaps an arts center or events space — and connect to the new library, with parking in the rear.
Cash for the new library was made available from a $275 million bond referendum voters approved in 2008 that will fund eight new libraries in Alpharetta, east Roswell, Milton, northwest Atlanta, Palmetto, southeast Atlanta, and Wolf Creek, and the expansion of the Auburn Avenue research library and the South Fulton branch. Officials hope to finish the design and construction of the buildings throughout next year and open the facilities in 2013.
You might recall that officials proposed spending a large chunk of that cash to build a new central library, which would mean the current downtown facility, the concrete behemoth off Peachtree Street designed by world-famous architect Marcel Breuer, would be vacated and put on the market. The proposal drew criticism from preservationists and architects who feared the building would be demolished. The library spokeswoman says that proposal isn't part of the current phase and may be considered in the future.
Comments (20)
Showing 1-20 of 20
bummed its not going to be some eccentric person's home. that would be a cool place.
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This is good news for the neighborhood. I hope the library reaches a deal and develops this.
Modern libraries can offer much more to a community than just books and computer access. They can be event spaces, training centers, resources for job seekers and more. This will be a win for the nearby neighborhoods in a lot of ways.
Library goers & kids: a kind of foot traffic that revitalizes neighborhoods. It will help change the character of that important intersection, beautify the area (vs. dilapidated building and chain link), and invite more foot-traffic/neighborhood type business to locate near there (not more hair salons, tire/auto stores, & liquor depots). The Fried Chicken stores have moved on, so it's possible! Church's, Mrs. Winners, and KFC all went kaput...on this stretch of Metro...that's gotta be a good thing, a harbinger of revitalization.
Now if we can get a couple coffee shops/restaurants/bakery and other neighborhood friendly businesses...one's that don't cater to thugs and ho's and John's...Oh my.
agreed— that intersection has such great bones. I'm reluctant to say "library" as a first pick for something to revitalize an area, but maybe you're right. Its a building that invites foot traffic.
This is the best news I've heard from the southwest side of town in a while. Let's hope Fulton doesn't back off.
This is definitely a positive step. In terms of commercial, what that area needs is for someone to build something resembling Edgewood Retail on that vacant strip of University.
an2500 - That would be an amazing boon to the entire area. The property you are referring to is bordered to the South by the Beltline corridor and is currently owned by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Dream big, Southwest Atlanta!
Gotta link to this article about the libraries of today and tomorrow - not only media centers but also places to meet, shop, host events, access public services, and really serve as the heart of the community. http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-socie…
The idea of a large library anchoring a development like edgewood is a actually a pretty interesting idea, though it doesn't seem to be practical in this circumstance.
"Officials hope to finish the design and construction of the buildings throughout next year and open the facilities in 2013"
The firms hired for this sound great. No one's gonna comment on that date?! I guess having a pile of money helps speed a project along. I hope money is in a lock-box of some sort.
WOW some of the comments here are disturbing. Beauty shops, tire stores and chicken restos are not my thing, but seriously, their customers are "thugs and ho's and John's (sic)"?? And if you want more sprawling strip malls filled with chain stores, please move to the suburbs where you belong. As for me, I'd go with the library. That's just my two cents.
I think this is horrible, the site was discussed with the communities surrounding the old library and the land requirements and facilities they were looking for have been usurped by Politicians and underhanded dealings. I think we should look at the last 10 years of ownership and compare their relationships with who is pushing for this site. Wasn't Pat Swindle involved with this property?
perkerson place
This site was found to be too little when fulton county real estate staff looked at site due to need for traffic from marta mobility vans, daycare center vans, senior citizens vans green area community folks wanted to have as part of the library.
perkerson place
it sounds like some political interference by joyce sheperd & joan garner to protect their beltline project & screw rest of the neighbors.
neighbor sent me an email about this----this is not the place for a library site with children coming, going---guess they gonna do duck the bullets & prostitutes.
capitolviewtruth
i liked the site down the street in perkerson that had the library with green space, gazebo & water feature & space for outdoor activities.space was ready 2build w/o delays. what happened?
perkerson place
joyce sheperd probably moved it because of miss tommy down in perkerson.she hates on her because ms. tommy told about joyce stealing that $15,000 in home repair money to fix her mamma house & other family & friends houses. miss tommy told on joyce collecting money for children in park & showing up with used toys & she keeping the money.she told about joyce taking money from developers like norsouth corp & joyce daughter living there after joyce daughter lived in a neighbor house in perkerson for free.
Can't we all just get along? Why does this conversation have to turn ugly? The library probably wouldn't of been placed that far south on Metropolitan (by Perkerson Road) because there's a fairly new library already on Cleveland. Mechanicsville, Pittsburgh, Pryor Road, Adair Park, Sylvan Hills, Peoplestown, Capitol View, Capitol View Manor and Capitol View Elementary are all within walking distance of the chosen site. Whereas there are mostly abandoned auto lots around Perkerson Road. Be happy that SW ATL is getting a new library. They originally only wanted to fix the roof in the current facility.
I am pleased to see Fulton County consider the church property. I suspect that once we have the injection of something positive happening on that corner it will push out the negative. Right now, the undesirable social aspects overshadow the good that exist (the Sullivan Center) or have attempted to exist (the Neighbor's Abbey). A major force like a library system promoting knowledge and curiosity will support the work of Sister Marie and others working for the community, thereby uplifting the neighborhood. It's a win-win.
Junk-yard dogs get snappy when they's fight'en for scraps -- and this is a big chunk of brisket.
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