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ment came tu tight.) That makes at least six
commissioners—Hoard, Doug Lowry, George
Maxwell, Andy Herod, Kelly Girtz and Mike
Hamby—in favor of locating the facility
at one of two parks on the Eastside: either
Satterfield or Southeast Clarke.
Girtz said Sunday that there would likely
be discussions with county staff early this
week to determine which of those locations is
most financially feasible and would result in
the least (or briefest) displacement of existing
services. If a useable plan can be worked out
in time, it could still wind up on the agenda
for the mayor and commission's August 3 vot
ing session. But whether that happens or the
item has to be pushed back another month, it
appears Bishop Parte—in its current much
loved state—has been effectively saved.
Candidates Dish on Food: Common Ground
Athens' local food forum with the five ACC
mayoral hopefuls last Saturday was well
attended and, as expected, the addition of
Gwen O'Looney to the mix made the conversa
tion a bit more interesting
than at the nonprofit's
We Hardly Knew Ye: In a slightly ironic coda to
the long-mnning "Who's Running in District 1"
saga, Sc'a Bickerton says she's leaving Athens
at the end of July to take a job teaching English
in Puebla, Mexico. Bickerton, for several months
the only announced candidate to replace Doug
Lowry on the ACC Commission when it was
thought he would jnove to Canada with his fian
cee, who took a job at the University of Calgary,
will teach first-graders in the central Mexico city
for at least the fall semester and may stay lon
ger. The Dope wishes her luck, and hopes she'll
eventually return to continue her literacy work
with children in Athens.
Check it Out* The dedicated folks over at the
Beyond the Trestle blog will be providing live
updates and commentary on the night of the •
primary elections (Tuesday, July 20) from a
yet-to-be-determined location—one at which
adult beverages will certainty be available.
Sounds like festive political fun; look for
updates on where to join in at www.beyond
thetrestle.com.
Dm Harr news@flagpoie.com
Paul Broun. Jr.
Lori Bork Newcomer's new house on Pulaski Heights integrates modem green desip principles with the histori
cal spirit of its intown neighborhood.
Beyond eye-catching designs, what
Newcomer, a transplant most recently from
Connecticut really brings to town is a com
mitment to putting Athens on the green map.
The house on Pulaski Heights will be certi
fied LCED Platinum, the U.S. Green Building
Council's highest rating. This house will join
Hotel Indigo and the Tate II additions, which
both have a LEED Gold rating.
While Indigo and the Pulaski Heights
houses may be more boldly contemporary than
the Tate, they both display a certain rever
ence, or perhaps irreverence, toward traditional
architecture of the South. Indigo, with its long
profile and gabled roof, resembles a chicken
bouse or a covered bridge, depending on
whom you talk to (me or the architect respec
tively). Likewise, Newcomer's new design rein
terprets the traditional cottage architecture
and porches of Athens in a fun way, blending
in quite wed along the street An eclectic use
of vernacular materials is also present with
clapboard, reclaimed wood and concrete block
planters providing architecture! interest to the
house. The return of generous, functional front
porches is another good thing to see.
Although the tines of the house may be
the hard and dean edges of Modernism, the
spirit of craftsmanship is certainly present
to a much greater degree than in the neo-
Craftsman student bungalows which populate
certain intown neighborhoods.
Particularly in features tike doors, handles
and counters, reclaimed timbers are com
bined with a dever use of otherwise generic
materials to give the house the same sense of
forms with contemporary solutions and the
ethical mandate that even those who can least
afford it deserve good design. My hope is that
Bork Architectural Design will join already
established local firms like D.CLC Unlimited,
known for its fascinating renovations around
town, in establishing this new hybrid
approach for Athens. The Savannah College
of Art and Design's renovation ethic in that
historic city and our Center for Community
Design and Preservation at UGA seem to con
tribute to that approach and body of work.
There's a real potential for magic when
green building starts spring toot Up until
recently, there hasn't been much of a rationale
to build in historic patterns, other than out of
imitative deference to existing buildings. We
lost our way when Modernism suggested one
rational design style could solve architectural
problems for the entire world, ignoring local
architectural traditions. Postmodern architec
ture returns to ornamented architecture, but
plays fast and loose with the world's architec
tural styles and associations, so that it's still
hard to find a connection to place. *
Green architecture could finally grand
once again, with newt;, crafted solutions to
local climate and conditions using local mate
rials. After all. the Southern lifestyle weVe
come to know is shaped by the places we
inhabit which are in turn shaped by weather.
The culture here wouldn't be the same without
porches to keep cool on, and we have the
humidity to thank for it
(£% (3sp©
ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
Tennis Out at Bishop: ACC Commissioner
Kathy Hoard told the Dope late last week
that, in light of the public's continuing objec
tions to even a revised and downsized plan
for a new tennis center at Bishop Park, she
doesn't think she can support locating ft
there. (See John Huie's background article in
City Pages, p. 5, written before this develop-
first two town hall events. One of the forum's
surprise highlights was O'Looney's brief digres
sion, while answering a question about food
carts, on the subject of open containers on
downtown sidewalks.
"We have deadened our streets," the
former mayor lamented, by not allowing open
containers even though the vast majority of
Athenians possess the "social abil
ity" to drink responsibly in public.
The restriction puts a damper on
potential street life-enhancing
cultural events like "an art walk on
'first Fridays,'" all because people
"abuse that seven times a year."
Right ~, Gwen.
A tip of the hat to Flagpole scribe
and Common Ground organizer Andre
Gallant, who supplied the above
quotes (which were partially drowned
out to the Dope's ears by the peals
of laughter they elicited from the
audience) from video he shot at
the event Said video should now
be posted on the Common Ground
Athens Facebook page; give it a peek
if you didn't make it Saturday.
Futbol Fever gripped Athens for the duration of the World Cup the
past few weeks: this was the midday scene at the Globe for Spain
and Germany's semifinal match last Wednesday. An unenviable
photo assignment, it’s true, but someone had to do it.
The collection of contemporary architec
ture in Athens is growing year by year, and
I'm excited by what it could mean for us here,
and perhaps for the region as a whole. While
some of these new homes and buildings may
be your standard Dwell magazine fare, there is
some coalescing of ideas that suggests a new,
local, contemporary style may be emerging.
Lori Boric Newcomer of Bork Architectural
Design gave me a tour of her recently com
pleted, self-designed home at 150 Pulaski
Heights. It isn't her first project in the area,
though; Newcomer designed the contemporary
home near the intersection of Pulaski and
Barrow, as well. She also had a hand in the
classy addition clad in sheet metal across the
street from her new house, a collaboration
among the homeowners, the builder and her.
quirkiness and personality that older houses
have. The use of passive solar design and
other features which attune the house to
natural systems also provides a conceptual
link to older local architecture. Designers of
older houses found ways to make them func
tion without air conditioners or heating sys
tems by necessity, and as green designers aim
. to reduce energy use, they are rediscovering
those old techniques. Although the two new
homes she designed on Pulaski are fairly large.
Newcomer also designed a pair of infill houses
for the Athens Land Trust in Forest Heights,
proving that the design approach can be
scaled down in a way tnat is affordable.
I've always been impressed by the work of
the Rural Studio in Alabama, which mixes an
interest in Southern vernacular materials and
WHAT’S UP IN NEW DEVELOPMENT