Atlanta suburb, bindery make group's 'Places in Peril' list
ATLANTA - Two sites in Atlanta, including one of the oldest buildings on Peachtree Road, have made The Georgia Trust's 10 "Places in Peril" for 2018.
The annual list is meant to raise awareness about Georgia's important historic, archaeological and cultural resources that are threatened by such things as demolition, neglect or lack of maintenance.
The group said that the Olmsted Linear Park properties in Atlanta's North Druid Hills neighborhood and the National Library Bindery Company building on Peachtree, are both in danger of being redeveloped.
North Druid Hills is the last major suburb to retain the original configurations and plans of renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who is best known for designing New York City's Central Park.
It's been called "the finest example of late 19th and early 20th-century comprehensive planning and development in the Atlanta area, and one of the finest period suburbs in the Southeast" by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Georgia Trust reported.
But two properties in the area are slated to be changed to condominiums, and the Georgia Trust worries that the changes might affect the character of the neighborhood and spur more development.
The other site, the National Library Bindery Company Building, was designed in 1929. It's currently home to Peachtree Battle Antiques.
Now the building is part of a plan which would demolish it and replace it with a new apartment building. While the building's owner agreed to save part of the building's facade, the amount that would remain is unknown, the Trust said.
The other sites on the list are:
- A..J. Gillen Department Story in Maxeys, Ga.
- Bibb City Elementary School in Columbus, Ga.
- Cutherbert Water Town in Randolph County
- Fire Station No. 2 in Rome, Ga.
- Fort Valley Freight Depot in Peach County
- Foster-Thomason-Miller House in Madison, Ga.
- Kit Jones Vessell in Darien, Ga.
- Underground Savannah.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.