November 17, 2017 10:00 AM
The 2018 Places in Peril List is….Uninspiring
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who approaches development (or change in general) with as much skepticism as I do. But I can’t quite see the harm to a few specific places on this year’s list.
- The Kit Jones Vessel, while I’m sure a lovely boat, is not wanted by anyone, has no historic significance and is likely unseaworthy. Oh, and it’s technically not a place.
- Sure there might be room for precedent if some of the Olmstead linear properties are converted to condos, their character won’t change. It’s also hard to imagine that the neighbors would ever allow for wholesale change to the area.
- In Fort Valley, the Freight Depot is an example of a building that’s outlived it’s usefulness for an area. Losing it would be deleterious aesthetically but if a place serves literally no purpose it is beneficial for communities to reclaim the space.
Hopefully this is a sign that Georgia’s historic/preservation-worthy sites are properly taken care of if we can turn our attention to these sites.
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edatlanta
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I saw this story in the Athens wrapper this morning. I’ve seen the A.J. Gillen Department Store in Maxeys, built during the cotton boom days when there were 300 people living there, compared to 200 now, and it isn’t in peril, it’s a dump more in need of a bulldozer than renovation. If it were leveled no one would miss it. Probably no one would notice.
What you should really be complaining about Ed is the current rendition of the new tax reform takes away the historic building tax credit. As in gone – so long – no home owner or commercial developer can claim up to a 20 % credit of property taxes of the first year after renovation over 5 years. This tax credit has been the funding bases of all historical construction in the 40 years. You like to restore and maintain old buildings get an email out to Isakson, he’s on the committee that can add it back. Otherwise you can kiss a lot of Georgia’s historic/preservation-worthy sites and the jobs and revenue they generate in construction and in later uses goodbye.
On a related note, color me shocked, shocked, that this administration wouldn’t care about historic preservation (beyond Confederate monuments of course): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/22/trump-defender-of-history-and-culture-after-charlottesville-had-significant-works-destroyed-at-trump-tower-site/?utm_term=.192ade5d5774
I’m definitely with you on the boat. Who cares about RJ Reynolds Jr’s boat?
All the others however I can see an argument for (Fort Valley Freight Depot gonna be pretty tough – “It sits between two active tracks currently used”) and I second Ellyn’s recommendation.