A public meeting ahead of the planned demolition of two historic Georgia State University campus buildings will be held Wednesday, May 28, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Centennial Hall, 120 Auburn Ave., in room 120.
GSU plans to demolish Sparks Hall – the first building constructed for the college in 1955 and named after its first president, George Sparks – as part of its plan to revamp the Downtown campus and create more greenspace and connectivity among its facilities.
GSU also plans to demolish 148 Edgewood Avenue, a nearly century-old building in the Martin Luther King Jr. Landmark District, for a parking lot.
The Atlanta Preservation Center (APC) has come out strongly against both demolition plans.
“Sparks Hall is GSU’s flagship building,” APC Executive Director David Y. Mitchell said. “It’s just bizarre that they would tear down their first building instead of looking at adaptive reuse or preservation.”
Mitchell urged the public to come out to the hearing on May 28 and make their feelings known.
“May is Historic Preservation Month and it should be a time to better understand the value of America’s historic places as definers of our national character,” Mitchell said. “Exploring how to adaptively reuse structures and spaces that retain historic character, architectural diversity and the way to create economic development and jobs – should be embraced as a universal goal and success.Particularly for a college as contributing and significant as Georgia State University.”
