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Two Atlanta landmarks placed on 2024 list of
10 Places in Peril
The Atlanta Constitution
Building (Courtesy
Georgia Trust)
KM!
By Collin Kelley
The Georgia Trust for Historic
Preservation has released its 2024 list of
10 Places in Peril, which includes two
prominent Atlanta landmarks.
Both the Atlanta Constitution Building
in Downtown and the Piney Grove
Cemetery in Buckhead are on this year's
list.
Also on the list across the state: Broad
Avenue Elementary in Albany (Dougherty
County); Cedar Grove in Martinez
(Columbia County); Church of the Good
Shepherd in Thomasville (Thomas County);
Grace Baptist Church in Darien (McIntosh
County); Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island
(McIntosh County); Old First Baptist
Church in Augusta (Richmond County);
Pine Tog Mountain (Bartow County); and
Sugar Valley Consolidated School in Sugar
Valley (Gordon County).
“This is the Trust’s nineteenth annual
Places in Peril list,” said W. Wright Mitchell,
president and CEO of the Trust. “We hope
the list will continue to bring preservation
solutions to Georgia’s imperiled historic
resources by highlighting ten representative
• . >5
sites.
Places in Peril is designed to raise
awareness about Georgia’s significant
historic, archaeological and cultural
resources, including buildings, structures,
districts, archaeological sites and cultural
landscapes that are threatened by
demolition, neglect, lack of maintenance,
inappropriate development or insensitive
public policy.
Through Places in Peril, the Trust
will encourage owners and individuals,
organizations and communities to employ
proven preservation tools, financial
resources and partnerships in order to reuse,
reinvest and revitalize historic properties
that are in peril.
Here’s more about Atlanta's two Places
in Peril from the Georgia Trust:
Atlanta Constitution Building
Known as “The Heart of Atlanta”
because of its proximity to Downtown’s
historic railroad junction, the Atlanta
Constitution Building has been home
to two iconic Georgia institutions.
Constructed in 1947, the Atlanta
Constitution Building is a rare Georgia
example of Art Moderne architecture that
was home to the Atlanta Constitution
newspaper during Ralph McGill’s term as
editor.
When the Atlanta Journal and
Constitution consolidated and moved out
of the building in 1955, Georgia Power
occupied the building until 1972. It has
been vacant ever since. The building
has withstood previous proposals for
demolition, while recent efforts toward
redevelopment have yet to materialize.
A landmark in Atlanta, now is the time
for the Constitution Building to serve as the
heart of Downtown revitalization.
Piney Grove Cemetery
Piney Grove Cemetery is an historic
African American burial ground in the
Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. The
cemetery’s founding dates to the 1800s
and has over 300 burials, some of which
are believed to be burials for enslaved
individuals. The cemetery has unique
characteristics including irregular burial
patterns, a variety of hewn and native
gravestones and terraced landscaping. The
cemetery also contains numerous unmarked
burials. Piney Grove Cemetery is one of the
last vestiges of the several African American
communities that once thrived in the area
including Piney Grove, Eynwood Park,
Bagley Park, Johnsontown and Armour.
In the early 2000s, a residential
developer acquired the property and sought
to remove the cemetery to develop the land.
After opposition by the descendants, the
land was sold to a commercial developer
with conditions for access and maintenance
as part of City of Atlanta zoning conditions.
Ultimately, a condominium complex was
built adjacent to the cemetery.
Despite zoning conditions and state law
requiring the condominium homeowner’s
association to allow descendants and
members of the public to use and enjoy
the Cemetery, in the view of the Friends of
Piney Grove Cemetery, the homeowner’s
association has never complied with the
obligation to maintain the historic Piney
Grove Cemetery, and this has resulted
in the cemetery’s current dire condition.
Instead, the property has become overgrown
and inaccessible with damage to headstones
from falling trees, vegetation, and trash.
Piney Grove Cemetery is a direct
link to a time in Georgia when enslaved
individuals were forced to toil in fields and
homes. Piney Grove Cemetery serves as
an important marker for Atlanta’s history,
and its preservation is essential to the city’s
cultural fabric.
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