Atlanta adopts new historic district in Poncey Highland
On Tuesday, September 8, 2020 the Atlanta City Council approved a new Historic District for the Poncey-Highland neighborhood. The district protects historic properties from Moreland Avenue to the Atlanta Beltline and from Ponce de Leon Avenue to John Lewis Freedom Parkway. This area has more than 260 contributing historic buildings.
The effort was led by the Poncey-Highland Neighborhood Association. Both the current and past leadership of the Association were instrumental in ensuring everyone could participate in the community discussions no matter their perspective on the designation.
The Department of City Planning supported this effort every step of the way and helped craft a unique district which is comprehensive, flexible, future-oriented, innovative, focused, and that responds to a lengthy and intensive grass-roots effort led by the neighborhood. It provides a clear framework for the future of the neighborhood that is based on established historic preservation principles and builds on the great historic look and feel of the community. Doug Young, Assistant Director of the Office of Design said “districts like the one we created for Poncey- Highland address the most pressing preservation issue - the demolition of historic buildings - but also are flexible, enabling adaptive reuse, renovations and additions, and infill new construction”.
The Poncey-Highland Historic District is the latest in a series of preservation-related actions by the City of Atlanta. In 2016, a proposal emerged to demolish the Engineers Bookstore building on the corner of Marietta Street and Means Street on the westside of the city to make way for a gas station and convenience store. City Planning worked with the community to create the Means Street Landmark District, adopted in February 2017, preserving not only the Engineers Bookstore, but other 19th and early 20th century buildings on the surrounding blocks.
In 2017, Briarcliff Plaza—one of the oldest automobile-oriented shopping centers in Atlanta—which includes the historic Plaza Theater, changed ownership. Because of its location on a prominent corner, there was great concern that the existing buildings would be demolished to allow for more intense mid-rise, mixed-use development. City Planning worked with the new owner on a historic designation in November 2017, that protects the historic buildings but enabled the refurbishment options and flexibility the owner was seeking.
Also, in 2017, we worked closely with the new owner of Pullman Yard to create a historic designation for their 12-acre property in the Kirkwood neighborhood. The site includes multiple buildings that date to the early 20th Century, including the distinctive main building which was the heart of Pullman’s car repair and maintenance operations. The November 2017 designation protects the historic buildings and enables new construction on the site. The revitalized site will include a variety of uses, including a potential new movie studio, hotel, retail options, offices, and new residences.
Further, in 2017, there was a proposal to demolish the Spring Hill Funeral Home on Spring Street in Midtown. This was one of the prominent commercial buildings designed by noted local architect Philip Trammel Shutze. City Planning designated the building for protection in August 2018. A new prospective owner has recently released plans for new construction of multiple buildings on the property saving the Shutze-designed building and adjacent formal gardens (see image - exactly what we were hoping for). Even in the most dense, urban part of the city saving old structures and incorporating them into new development is more than just possible, it results in a better project. The Department of City Planning’s designation work continued in 2018 with the protection of two individual Landmark properties along the Ponce de Leon Corridor and the protection in March 2019 of the Bonaventure-Somerset Historic District in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood. As with the other recent designation work of the City of Atlanta, these efforts included customized and innovative approaches to keeping Atlanta’s historic character intact and a key part of our future.
Lastly, in spring of 2019, we embarked on the first historic preservation strategy in Atlanta since the 1980’s—the Future Places Project. The work culminates this year and we are now looking at a fall 2020 unveiling. Central to this work is not simply that buildings and spaces represent our history, but that the people and stories of Atlanta should be respected, shared, and accentuated if we are to keep Atlanta truly Atlanta.