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WHAT’S UP IN NEW DEVELOPMENT
Film Rising: "The county's at the center of the
state. The town's at the center of the county.
The courthouse is at the center of the town.
The weathervane is at the center of it all."
This is the chorus of the art-documentary
General Orders No. 9. which I had the good
fortune to catch at Cine two weekends ago,
complete with a Q&A with writer/director Bob
Persons. The film is most successful when it
is more humbly exploring the order within
the small-town Deep South, but it frequently
veers away to more aggressively rant against
the soulless interstate highway and "the City"
(portrayed by Atlanta).
While it's easy to focus on the beautiful
images of the film, or dismiss it as preten
tiously artsy, the kernel of an idea which this
small town cosmology laid out in the above
quote is fascinating stuff. As the narrator
describes Persons' view of the world, aerial
photographs of an archetypal township lead
to abstracted diagrams
that are reminiscent
of Buddhist mandalas,
from which temples like
the impressively ruined
Angkor Wat may derive
their arrangement. A
city plan representing
the values of its found
ers and denizens is
nothing new, and the
democratic courthouse
square as the literal and
figurative heart of the
county isn't far off in
approach from that of
the builders of ancient
temples. If we earnestly
acknowledge our own
local cosmology, we
might find a compelling
way to overcome the
failings of modern cit
ies which General Orders
later harps on.
The film's county-
town-courthouse
system is familiar and
easy to recognize in the local landscape, but
what others define and flesh out our region?
The ridge-road and river pattern is a somewhat
less obvious one, which Persons seems intui
tively aware of but doesn't fully explore. "Deer
trail becomes Indian trail becomes county
road," the narrator intones, but what is left
unsaid is that the paths often chosen follow
flat uplands, with many of the most prominent
routes sitting along major divides.
Next time you're riding down Prince or
Milledge Avenue, consider that the old high
way they comprise divides the drainage
basins of the Middle and North Oconee Rivers.
The route that will ultimately become the
Firefly Trail was once a rail line, the first to
reach Athens, and much of it traces the divide
between the Broad and Oconee Watersheds.
Peachtree Street in Atlanta marks the subcon
tinental divide, separating that which flows
into the Gulf from that which flows into the
Atlantic. That the South's biggest city strad
dles the defining hydrological feature of this
side of the continent is certainly an interest
ing fact, and one which could provide the type
of intuitive approach for exploring some of the
ecological issues in the region that Persons
has touched on. Imagine how intuitive and
familiar organizations of the land, based
on history and vernacular understanding.
could inform current issues like drought and
water management, or regional transportation
questions.
Rutherford: "I don't know anyone that's looked
at the condition of the property and the finan
cials that thinks we're not doing the right
thing," UGA President Michael Adams said
regarding the demolition of Rutherford Hall at
a UGA Real Estate Foundation board meeting
(according to an Athens Banner-Herald story).
Of course, with no effort whatsoever from
the administration to actually show or explain
those details, Adams' comment sounds a little
flippant, especially given the near-unanimous
opposition from students, alumni and local,
state and national historic preservation orga
nizations at a local forum on the issue.
The idea to demolish the dorm was
apparently hatched at the UGA Real Estate
Foundation, which finances the construc
tion of parking decks
and new dorms on
campus—projects that
are generally notable
for being horribly out
of scale from the North
Campus flavor UGA
pushes in its master
plan. That plan, accord
ing to UGA officials,
stands in for a state-
mandated preservation
plan, which is required
of all similar state
institutions but which
UGA has refused to
undertake. Many in the
preservation field have
noted that this lack of
a preservation plan is
illegal.
The Rutherford proj
ect looks much more
like the whim of admin
istrators—and a UGA
Real Estate Foundation
more comfortable
with new construction
than complex renovation—than a well rea
soned move. If it is really a solution of last
resort, then these public servants have some
explaining to do. Of course, it's worth noting
that the Foundation is more a private entity
than a public one, and we should be wary of
its throwing money around to implement its
vision for the campus. At this point, though,
it looks as if only the Board of Regents
could undo this move—and the board's new
Chancellor, Hank Huckaby, used to work for
Adams, so don't expect much help there.
Of course, demolition by neglect is just as
much a part of the UGA's record as its preser
vation successes, which UGA now seems to be
relying on as part of a "preserve two, demolish
the third for free" deal. Look no further than
South Milledge, where the great Red Barn
rots. Patching up the iconic reminder of UGA's
agricultural heritage would only take $20,000,
but Adams and the gang don't seem inter
ested in turning it into anything other than
floorboards. Adams has a long track record of
acknowledging the master plans and previous
preservation efforts on campus only when he
sees fit, and ignoring them when he's in the
mood. The whole scene reeks of old-fashioned
good-ole-boyism.
Kevan Williams athensrising©flagpole com
UGA's track record for new housing includes
many buildings that tower over their surround
ings. Are they capable of building a well-scaled
and detailed replacement for Rutherford Hall?
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