Georgia Trust Announces 2019 List of 10 ‘Places in Peril'

ATLANTA, GA — The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has released its 2019 list of 10 Places in Peril in the state. The list is designed to raise awareness about Georgia’s historic, archaeological and cultural resources, including buildings, structures, districts, archaeological sites and cultural landscapes that are threatened by demolition, neglect, lack of maintenance, inappropriate development or public policy. The organization is hoping to encourage owners and individuals, organizations and communities to employ proven preservation tools, financial resources and partnerships in order to reuse, reinvest and revitalize historic properties that are in peril.

“This is the trust’s fourteenth annual Places in Peril list,” said Mark C. McDonald, president and CEO of the trust. “We hope the list will continue to bring preservation solutions to Georgia’s imperiled historic resources by highlighting 10 representative sites.”

Metro Atlanta locations on the list are the Madison Theatre in east Atlanta's DeKalb County community, and Rhodes Center South in Fulton County.

Opened in 1927, the Madison Theatre in East Atlanta was designed by local architects Daniell and Beutell in the popular Moorish Revival style. With over 600 seats, lavish furnishings and air conditioning, the theater ranked as one of the finest and most expensive neighborhood theaters in the South at the time. As with many neighborhood theaters, the Madison helped bridge the gap between the silent and “talkie” movie eras, serving as a community cultural resource and operating as a theater until the 1960s before later being used as a church.

Since the 1980s, only smaller portions of the building have been used for commercial purposes while the larger theater space has been used for storage. There is significant potential for rehabilitation, but there are no plans to bring the theater back to its original state.

Madison Theater. Image Georgia Trust For Historic Preservation

Rhodes Center South was designed in 1937 by Georgia architects Ivey and Crook, Rhodes Center was Atlanta’s first strip shopping center and one of the largest real estate developments in Atlanta during the Great Depression. Rhodes Center was originally made up of three one-story buildings that ran along the north, south, and west sides of Rhodes Hall and were faced with white Georgia marble. Only the South building, which was home to the Rhodes Theatre, remains.

The building is threatened by its current state of disrepair after sitting vacant and suffering neglect for many years. Despite a thriving market for commercial real estate in Midtown Atlanta, there are no plans for its rehabilitation.

Rhodes Center. Image Georgia Trust For Historic Preservation

Here are this year's other locations:

• Colquitt County Arts Center (Moultrie, Colquitt County)
• Glennwanis Hotel (Glennville, Tattnall County)
• Huston House at Butler Plantation (Darien, McIntosh County)
• Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Garden (Savannah, Chatham County)
• Needwood Baptist Church and School (Brunswick, Glynn County)
• Springfield Log Cabin School (Union Point, Taliaferro County)
• Stark Mill Community Building (Hogansville, Troup County)
• The Cedars (Washington, Wilkes County)

Founded in 1973, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation works for the preservation and revitalization of Georgia's diverse historic resources and advocates their appreciation, protection and use. As one of the country's leading statewide, nonprofit preservation organizations, the Trust generates community revitalization by finding buyers for endangered properties acquired by its Revolving Fund and raises awareness of other endangered historic resources through an annual listing of Georgia's "Places in Peril." The Trust offers a variety of educational programs for adults and children, provides technical assistance to property owners and historic communities, advocates for funding, tax incentives and other laws aiding preservation efforts, and manages two house museums in Atlanta (Rhodes Hall) and Macon (Hay House).

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Huston House, Butler Plantation, Darien, Ga. Image by Halston Pitman | Nick Woolever | MotorSportMedia