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The Red ami Black, F riday. November 9, 1979
Parking garage may be apartments
By SALYNN Bi)\ I Eh
AkiikUni city minor
Reno'.aiions win
the vacated downtown parking
garage into u luxury
builtlimg are v h« 1 e
in Match with '
Federal Housing Autl.
backing.
The Athene CHj <
Tuesday night, voted to gi\
itp.ii 11 item
d to begin
company handling the construc
tion. Walt hen and Associates, a
six month extension on their
pi’fi c*f the garage. The
compan\ has been delaying the
st.trt of construction .
A. cot ding to Koseann Davis,
ihe local representative lor the
Walt hen Company, the Atrium,
as the apartment has been
christened, will lake about a year
and a halt to convert into 41 one
Mail pniMo-uiura r.uiiigtuu
Renovations begin in March
Company
and two bedroom apartments.
II the garage is converted as
planned, an additional floor will
be built on to the existing
structure which w ill be used as a
“penthouse." The bottom floor
will contain offices, small shops,
and a restaurant.
“There is no comparable
housing available in the Athens
area." Davis said "We think
there is a market for this type of
thing."
Some city officials agree that
the luxury apartment is a good
idea that will work. Athens
mayor Upshaw Bentley said he
believes the apartment could be
successful in the city. "Accord
ing to developers there has been
a great deal of interest." he
said.
Asked who would live in the
apartments, which will rent
from $450 to $750 a month.
Bentley said jokingly "rich
students. 1 guess. No. seriously,
a few students may live there."
he added, "hut University em
ployees and older people will
probably make up most of the
tenants."
Athens realty companies are
taking a cautious, wait-and-see
attitude about the luxury apart
ment. "I hope it works." said
one real estate broker who
asked not to be identified.
"The rent is really steep for the
Athens area but there are other
high rent apartments in the city
that are doing well." he said.
The renovation of the parking
garage has been plagued with
problems since it was first
optioned by the city six months
ago. The option would have run
out this month without the
extension by the city council,
which gives the developers
another six month extension.
According to Joe Burnett,
director of the Athens Down-
by JOHN KUKLA
ran
T
LIFE OF BRIAN
Mat. Sat. and Sun. 3:30 • 5:21
Tonight 7:12 • 9:63
town Development Authority,
the delays in the $2.9 million
renovation arc due to rising
interest rates and the FHA
refusal to insure the proposed
apartment.
"They keep submitting and
resubmitting plans to the FHA.
but it will probably take time to
get the approval." Burnett said.
"They can jack him (the devel
oper) around as long as they
want."
One other problem facing the
developers is a lack of parking
facilities for residents of the
apartment. "They’re looking at
a few places right now.”
Bentley said, mentioning the
Holiday Inn parking lot which
rents out spaces by the month.
The hotel could not accomodate
all of the residents’ cars,
however.
The mayor also mentioned a
city parking lot a few feet from
the garage as a possible solution
to the parking problem. "Ihe
city lot would be a last resort
thing." he said.
The garage was built by the
city in the 60s but never made
money, and. in fact, constantly
operated in the red. It was
finally closed in 1973 and has
stood empty and unused since
then.
The Athens Downtown Dev
elopment Authority, headed by
Joe Burnett, made the sale and
re-development of the garage
the "cornerstone" of downtown
rcdcvlopmcnt. It was ADDA
that made the sale transaction
with Security Pacific of Seattle
and signed the orgiginal six-
month option contract which the
city council renewed Tuesday
night.
The proposed interior of the
Atrium, as designed by Atlanta
architects, will sport giass-
cnclosed elevators like those in
the Hvatt Regency in Atlanta.
Ihc interior will also have a
large open courtyard landscape
designed with plants and a
fountain.
Commission rejects ordinance
By TIM BONNER
Assistant city editor
The Athens-Clarke County Planning Com
mission has decided to recommend that the
mayor and council of the city not accept the
historic preservation ordinance as presented by
James Reap and John Waters, present and past
presidents of the Athens-Clarke Heritage
Foundation, to the council.
While this action all but kills the proposed
ordinance, a subcommittee of the planning
commission will continue to examine other
avenues for some type of acceptable historic
preservation.
The proposed ordinance called for the
appointment of a seven-member board by the
mayor and council. This board would then
deem buildings, sites, districts, and works of
art as historic, thereby preventing any changes
to the outer appearance of the landmark
without the written approval of the board and
the council.
The main controversy centered around the
outcries of local businessmen and homeowners,
who felt their rights as property owners would
be infringed upon by the ordinance. They
objected to what they saw as government
intervention in even the basic upkeep of their
private property. As local property owner.
John Hunnicutt, said, "I don’t want to go
before a commission to find if I can cut a tree,
cut a limb."
The proponents of the ordinance argued that
some type of legal measure was necessary to
insure the preservation of Athens’ heritage, so
that property owners would be availed of
existing special tax benefits that run out in
1981
Larry Hancock, planning commission mem-
By DKNISK NEALEY
Staff writer
As of fall quarter 1979. the
Athens Transit System mm
ventures fan her than ever into
University territory. Recent
changes in routes and services
were made in an effort to coor
dinate with and complement the
University transit service for
passengers needing service to
and from campus.
her. said the commission’s action was not a
condemnation of historic preservation, but
rather of the historic preservation ordinance as
written which many members felt was too
restrictive.
"In looking at other cities that have some
type of historic preservation, like Columbus.
Savannah, and Charleston," Hancock said.
"We found that they don’t have a separate
ordinance, but rather historic preservation is
part of their zoning ordinances."
Hancock, who was one of the most outspoken
opponents to the ordinance, feels that historic
preservation is nonetheless very important to
the community. "I’m the one who told the
commission we should seek some type of
historic preservation," he said.
But Hancock feels that any histone
preservation has got to be voluntary, and that a
market has to be created for it before it will be
acceptable to the public. "I still haven't seen a
list of people who say yes, I’m for historic
preservation, yes I’ll put my property under
it,'* he said
Waters said that he and Reap still intend to
work with the planning commission to see if
they can come up with some kind of acceptable
plan "Historic preservation is a subject whose
time has come,” Waters said. "It becomes a
matter of time before people respect the
necessity of historic preservation.”
A Jack of public understanding was credited
by Waters as being the major reason for the
ordinance’s early death.
Reap admitted that the concept of historic
preservation is hard for the average person to
understand, and that presented one of the
major obstacles.
City buses venture further into campus
campus before." said Judy
Dudley of Athens Transit Sys
tem. Students and University
employees now have more of an
opportunity to utilize the city
bus system.
Part of the motivation behind
this new expansion is the
ever-present parking problem
on and around campus. Dudley
said.
There are four ATS routes
which serve the University area.
The No. 3 Millcdge route
provides service from the arch
at Broad and College through
campus using Sanford Drive,
Fast Campus and back to the
arch. The No. 4 Five Points/
Glcnwood provides service from
the arch to the Coliseum as well
as transportation from the Five
Points and South Lumpkin area
to downtown via Lumpkin
Street.
The No. 5 Beech wood/Baxter
route provides transportation
from several apartment com
plexes to town, where a student
can transfer directly to ATS No.
3 or No. 4 for service to north
campus. The No. 6 West Broad/
Atlanta Highway provides direct
service to and from the arch and
several locations along West
Broad. The No. bA West Broad/
Brooklyn serves points on Han
cock Street from the arch out to
to
Hawthorne.
In June 1977, University
students contracted with the city
for service on a quarterly basis.
Each student pays $1 per
quarter to use ATS for that
quarter. Students must show ID
and valid fee card to ride on the
"student" basis. The ATS
buses do not stop at all the
University stops, so student who
wish to catch a certain bus at
one of those stops must flag the
driver.
"Drivers will be glad
stop." Dudley said. '
Another difference students
should be aware of if they wish
to use ATS on campus is
schedules. The University has
several buses on the same route
but ATS mav have only one or
two. The ATS buses follow a
time schedule, and in most
cases if a student misses a bus
by five minutes, he may have to
wait for 30 more minutes before
another ccmes along.
"If students do have a need
for service, we encourage peo
ple to let us know," Dudlev
said.
Residents who work on cam
pus also benefit by the new
route changes.
"We've got a lot of people out
near Bccchwood that work on
campus," said Dudley.
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8:30 • 3.00 adv.
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PLACE: Career Planning and
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DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 14,
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