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I spent the last two summers in Ann Arbor, MI where it was hot, but not this hot. Although I’ve lived here my entire life, I still cannot get used to Atlanta summers. I would rather be cocooned in the AC with a book or watching a movie.
Since I’m home this summer, I’ve been making some minor updates and upgrades to my condo. My budget is nearly zero, so this is a DIY, IKEA, Facebook Marketplace kind of affair.
I know this won’t surprise anyone, but I am STILL dealing with insurance over the flood in my condo last November. You might recall that the workers installing my new HVAC system nicked a sprinkler and flooded my unit. And all the ones below me. While insurance covered 99 percent of the damage, we’re quibbling over $500 – the cost to replace the broken sprinkler head. You’d think that would be a no-brainer, but the inner workings and machinations of insurance companies still flummox me.
So, this little refresh to my place means a new light fixture here, a new shelf there, and the ongoing search for a mid-century modern chair that isn’t outrageously priced or a knock-off from the TikTok shop. When I’m doom-scrolling on the Tok, nearly every other ad is for a chair that “looks” nice, but if you look more closely, it’s cheaply made junk.
I have a giant space over my desk that still needs artwork, although I’ve been here for four years. I want one of those starburst mirrors or something funky, but it’s either too expensive, too small, or too cheap. I’ve got champagne taste and a beer budget.
was something charming about being in a city that has everything you need, but less traffic, potholes, taxes, and mayhem. My building has a strict limit on the number of rental units, so if you want to rent your condo, there’s a waiting list. The list is currently three years long, and I’m now at the bottom of it. Do I want to be a landlord? Probably not, but it seemed like an option I should consider if I find myself giving in to the “quieter lifestyle.” Even typing that made me shudder.
Luckily, this month’s issue of Atlanta Intown has been a cute distraction thanks to all the furbabies. Our annual Pets & Their People pictorial begins on page 12. For even more cuteness, check out Sarra Sedghi’s feature on lovable restaurant mascots on page 26.
And I’m also glad to welcome Sally Bethea back to the fold after she took a couple of months off from her Above the
As I continue my headlong slide into my dotage, I’ve also started thinking about whether this condo is where I want to spend my retirement years. I found myself back on Zillow a few weeks ago, looking at homes and condos in quieter, less busy areas. Not quite the burbs, but close enough to send me into a mini mid-life crisis.
I am a city kinda guy, so the very idea of moving elsewhere – or just moving in general, because I really hate that – has me reexamining my life and priorities. In a way, I blame Ann Arbor. I’m not sure I could survive a Michigan winter, but there
Waterline column. Amid the ongoing Trump “budget cuts,” there’s some good news for a vital water monitoring facility that was facing closure, but Sally reports that it has been spared for now. Enjoy the summer – if that’s your thing.
Correction: In our June issue, we incorrectly stated that the home at 1016 Wildwood Rd. in MorningsideLenox Park featured on the cover was sold. At press time July 2, the home was still on the market from Joy Myrick of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. See the listing on page 20 or at SothebysRealty.com.
Collin Kelley
By Katie Burkholder
The Atlanta City Council unanimously passed a controversial update to the city’s tree protection ordinance (TPO) at its June 16 meeting.
The vote came after the update was advanced by the Community Development and Human Services Committee on June 10.
After months of discussing and drafting changes to the TPO, the council approved a scaled-down version of the legislation, and the updated ordinance was sent to Mayor Andre Dickens’ desk for his signature.
The ordinance:
■ increases the recompense fee for removing trees from $130 to $140 per diameter inch of the tree trunk;
■ doubles the fines for illegal tree removals;
■ increases the City’s Tree Trust Fund to $400,000 to assist low-income seniors in managing hazardous trees on their properties;
■ adds funding for arborists in the Department of City Planning and one
senior arborist in the Department of Parks and Recreation, and;
■ adds discounts on recompense fees for developers of affordable housing to support Dickens’ goal of building or preserving 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030.
“As a multi-generational Atlanta native, I am proud of our beautiful city in the forest. Atlanta has always been a national leader in tree canopy and we have taken measures to protect it for future generations,” Dickens said in a statement. “Thank you to our planning team, city council and everyone who worked together for a greener, more sustainable Atlanta. I look forward to the next steps of the tree preservation work that will align with our land use goals.”
These changes are the first major updates made to the TPO in over 25 years, but while Greg Levine, the executive director of Trees Atlanta, says the changes are a “step in the right direction,” he and other advocates believe the protections are ultimately not enough to protect trees in a meaningful way.
“The recompense fee is an improvement, but there are lots of discounts and opportunities to not pay
the full [fee… and] that cap needs to be higher,” he said during public comment, referring to the recompense fee cap, which ranges from $12,500 to $35,000 per acre depending on the zoning.
This is a significant increase from the previous cap of $5,000 per acre, but Levine told Rough Draft in April that he believed that the cap should’ve been completely removed.
Council member Antonio Lewis said at Monday’s meeting that he understood the concerns of tree advocates but felt that the legislation still needed to move forward.
“[The ordinance] didn’t go far enough for me, but what I’ve learned as a councilperson is that you can’t kill [legislation] because you didn’t get everything you wanted,” he said.
According to Atlanta Council Member Michael Julian Bond, who sponsored the ordinance, the changes are being pushed forward despite concerns that they aren’t expansive enough so that the TPO updates can become effective
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by the time the zoning rewrite, known as ATL Zoning 2.0, is made effective in January 2026.
The improvements to the TPO, despite being less expansive than advocated for by tree preservation activists, align with the city council’s goal of increasing the city’s tree canopy coverage to 50 percent. Atlanta’s canopy has dwindled from 48 percent in 2008 to 46.5 percent in 2018, with further decline expected in the seven years since.
The Stitch plan moves forward amid federal funding threat Atlanta Council passes tree ordinance update
By Katie Burkholder and Collin Kelley
The Atlanta City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to adopt The Stitch Master Plan at its meeting on June 16.
The project will create approximately 17 acres of new community park space atop a 3/4-mile platform spanning the Downtown Connector between Ted Turner Drive and Piedmont Avenue. The Stitch was informed by an 18-month process that included over 20 community engagement events and feedback from over 6,000 individuals and has been developed in partnership with the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District.
This step forward in the development of The Stitch comes after the council voted to fund, define, and implement the project in April. Phase one of The Stitch is expected to begin next year, with completion expected by 2030, but the future of the project may be up in the air due to threats to federal funding.
The Trump administration has threatened to revoke the $157.6 million U.S. Department of Transportation Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE)
Grant the City received for the project after the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee proposed rescinding non-obligated NAE grant funds as part of Trump’s effort to decrease government spending.
A.J. Robinson, the President of Central Atlanta Progress, wrote in a letter to supporters that the project will happen with or without the funding, but “federal funding falling out of the equation now will delay the project – likely by years” and jeopardize the 40,000 jobs, $8.6 billion in economic output, and 25,000 new housing units projected to be produced by the Stitch.
The Stitch development manager, Jack Cebe, said during a June 11 stakeholders meeting that if the feds rescind the grant, backup funding could come from the special services tax district set up for the project.
“The special services funding is pinned for operations and maintenance, but we could pivot if stakeholders agree,” Cebe said.
Cebe said there are also philanthropic partners interested in helping, but he’s still optimistic the federal funding will come through.
Courtesy of Trees Atlanta
The Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education approved a $1.3 billion “back to basics” budget for 2026. But that high price tag is also coming with job cuts. APS officials said 135 positions at the district’s central office will be cut, creating a savings of $25 million.
Georgia Tech announced two major expansion projects, including the creation of a Creative Quarter on Marietta Street with film and music studios, residential, retail, and a food hall. Tech also said it would transform the historic Biltmore Hotel in Midtown into an innovation center for startups and entrepreneurs.
A controversial “skybridge” connecting the State Capitol with a new legislative office building will move forward after a vote by the Atlanta City Council. The council voted 10-2 to approve right-of-way and air rights to construct the $10 million enclosed pedestrian walkway across Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Veteran broadcaster Lois Reitzes signed off after 45 years at WABE 90.1 FM with a special edition of her “City Lights” program. “My heart is full of gratitude for this career and all it has provided,” Reitzes said.
New Beltline segment creates 6.8 miles of continuous Westside Trail
By Collin Kelley
A ribbon cutting was held June 23 for a new segment of the Westside Trail, creating the longest continuous trail corridor on the Atlanta Beltline. Walkers, runners, and cyclists can now travel 6.8 continuous miles – from Pittsburgh Yards to Blandtown – on the Westside Trail with the official opening of Segment 4.
The trail segment stretches 1.3 miles from the existing Westside Trail terminus at Lena Street north to Law Street, where it connects to the Westside Beltline Connector and Westside Trail Segment 3. It transforms a fragmented pathway
into a seamless corridor that runs along Washington Park.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Atlanta Beltline, Inc. President and CEO Clyde Higgs, along with local elected officials and other community leaders gathered for the ribbon cutting.
Officials also dedicated a new marker that commemorates Washington Park’s enduring legacy.
“The Westside Trail serves not only as a symbol of the community’s storied past but also its ongoing commitment to growth, development, and prosperity as a longstanding, vital and vibrant community. In the design of the Westside Trail – Segment 4, we celebrate the City
for its inclusive vision of innovation and entrepreneurship and the Beltline for its commitment to community engagement,” said Christi Jackson, Board President of The Conservancy at Historic Washington Park. “This segment showcases the trail as a simple and cohesive way to bring the various areas of our city closer together, encouraging all of us to enjoy the great outdoors, arts and entertainment, and an interesting range of opportunities for discovery and engagement across and around our whole city.”
The 14-foot-wide concrete multi-use path features three-foot soft shoulders on each side, complemented by thoughtful
design elements including stainless steel handrails, LED lighting, and security cameras. Green infrastructure manages stormwater while environmental remediation addresses the corridor’s industrial past. Ramps and stairs link the trail to adjoining streets, ensuring accessibility for surrounding communities.
The Beltline, which approved a 2026 budget of $242 million in June, said its goal is to deliver nearly 18 miles of continuous paved trail ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup next summer. The deadline to finish all 22 miles of the Beltline and 11 miles of connector trails remains 2030.
The ribbon cutting for the Westside Trail segment. (Courtesy ABI)
A new marker for Washington Park was unveiled at the ribbon cutting. (Courtesy ABI)
Atlanta marks one year until 2026 FIFA World Cup
By Collin Kelley
The Atlanta World Cup Host Committee (AWCHC) marked “One Year to Go” until the 2026 FIFA World Cup last month with a series of announcements and projects ahead of the city’s first match next summer.
The AWCHC hosted a community briefing on June 10 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium that brought together civic leaders and key stakeholders from across the region to outline their collective efforts to prepare for the global event. The briefing featured panels with representatives from Mercedes-Benz Stadium, City of Atlanta, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, Metro Atlanta Chamber, Atlanta Police Department, Georgia World Congress Center, MARTA, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
“The FIFA World Cup is about more than matches; it’s about people, culture, and the kind of energy and hospitality only Atlanta can bring,” said Dan Corso, Atlanta Sports Council and AWCHC president. “Today is a celebration of our progress and our passion. From our worldclass stadium and infrastructure to the unmatched energy of our communities, Atlanta is proud to be part of this historic moment. These next 12 months will center around what makes our city special and
ensuring the legacy of this event is felt for years to come.”
AWCHC leaders also announced key partners and broader community programs, including:
The AWCHC announced its first sponsors – or “Host City Supporters” – Cox Enterprises, Georgia-Pacific, The Home Depot and Southern Company.
As part of a “legacy project,” a new StationSoccer location will be built at the Hamilton E. Holmes MARTA Station in partnership with Soccer in the Streets and the Host City Supporters.
In partnership with the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA), the AWCHC announced that the official FIFA Fan Festival will take place in Centennial Olympic Park. Celebrating 30 years since the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, the park will once again host residents and fans for 20 days throughout the World Cup.
Grammy Award-winning rapper and Atlanta native Killer Mike launched a special video that highlights Atlanta’s iconic Southern hospitality, diversity, and the historic roots that have shaped the city’s passion for soccer.
An official countdown clock, which will be displayed outside of the GWCCA, and on digital billboards across Downtown. It was also announced that
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Congratulations to the Class of 2025 who were awarded over $5,000,000 in scholarships and were accepted by Emory University, Georgia Tech (Honors College), University of Georgia (Honors Program), Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Clemson University, and the University of Michigan, among others. 89% of the class received HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarships.
volunteer headquarters will be established at the former CNN Center building. And, of course, there is plenty of
merchandise available with the FIFA World Cup 26 Atlanta logo. See the selection of items at store.fifa.com.
City council approves 2026 $3 billion budget
By Katie Burkholder
The Atlanta City Council has voted to approve it 2026 fiscal year operating budget, adding funding to the Silver Comet Connector project, and instituting environmental regulations on new data centers in the city.
The council unanimously adopted the nearly $3 billion budget during the full council meeting on June 2.
The budget includes a $975 million general fund budget, which will include $300,000 more for the Citizen Review Board to create two new community outreach positions and $50,000 each for the Atlanta Commission on Women, the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival, Atlanta Pride, and the Agape Youth and Family Center.
The budget went into effect at the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1.
“This budget represents our shared commitment to building a city that invests in its people, strengthens our infrastructure and looks to the future,” Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement. “I am grateful to the City Council for their collaboration
in advancing a budget that puts public safety, economic growth and sustainability at the forefront.”
The council also unanimously approved a resolution allowing the Atlanta Department of Transportation to add additional funding of up to $250,000 to the Silver Comet Connector, a project with the PATH Foundation to connect the Atlanta Beltline with the 61.5-mile Silver Comet Trail, which runs from Smyrna to the Alabama border.
The council also unanimously approved an ordinance requiring special use permits for all new data centers citywide. The ordinance, introduced by council member Dustin Hills, responds to concerns about data centers’ environmental impacts, as the special use permit application requirements will address a proposed data center’s water consumption, water conservation, energy consumption, and other environmental considerations.
These regulations are supported for all NPUs in Atlanta, except for NPU-W, which opposes the city’s broad definition of a data center.
Photo courtesy Casey Sykes/Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Pets & Their People
We put out the call for photos of you with your beloved furry friends and you answered us! Our annual “Pets & Their People” issue is one of our favorites to assemble as it gives us a great opportunity to showcase our readers and their BFFs. The submissions always tend to run more in favor of the pups, so we were happy to see more felines in the mix.
– Cathy Cobbs
Sponsored by
Chris and Reg Pearson of Blandtown with Marlee
The Glick family of Dunwoody with Peaches and Posey
Jett and his dog Sampson
Smyrna’s Linda Midkoff and Chorki the yorkie
Mallory Wickersham of Roswell with Millie and Winston
Harlan Chelf takes a nap in Tucker with Scout
Tucker Mayor Frank Auman and Cooper
Amy Trocchi and Bruster in Tucker
Alicia Felder with Carmen
Charlie Weatherly and Roger
Tucker’s Anne Lerner with Sunny
Ling-Ling Nie with Jeeli and Jelli
Talia Hill and Dallas with Wendy Baker and Buddy
Lo Willen with Roo West
Bob McDonald with Sophie in Dunwoody Sunitha and Ruby Lakshmi Gandavadi
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Dunwoody’s Rex and Coby Torres with Maisie
Julie and Randy Salisbury of Brookhaven with Rosie
Lauren Holley & Phoebe and Nancie Vito with Elliot of Atlanta
Crystal Bui and Scout of Brookhaven
Jill Seglie with dog Jazzy and cat Vito in Druid Hills
Phoebe, Natalie and Julia
Emma Companiotte and Sarah Andrew with Winston
Sandra Kruger and Hershey
Science center saved by Georgia senators SUSTAINABILITY
Science—with its intimidating math, abstract concepts, and analytical thinking— was never my strong suit in school. I’ve always been more comfortable with language and verbal communication.
When I helped found the nonprofit Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) thirty years ago, I knew that it would be essential to identify local scientists: experts who could provide our team with river data and analysis to serve as a foundation for our education and advocacy work.
My master’s degree in environmental planning from Georgia Tech had offered a broad range of knowledge and emphasized big picture thinking, collaborative approaches, and problem-solving techniques: useful skills, but not enough to accomplish our organization's mission.
At several federal agencies located in the Atlanta area, I found hydrologists, biologists, engineers, geologists, ecologists, and other specialists who were willing
Sally Bethea
(even happy) to provide the information we needed. Some of the very best water scientists were at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), an agency within the U.S. Department of Interior. Over the years, these individuals have never failed to help us, and many others in Georgia, to ensure that our work was based on science and fact.
Gold Standard
Established nearly 150 years ago, USGS monitors natural resources and landscapes in the U.S. and provides scientific information based on rigorous data quality standards. It is the nation’s largest water, earth, and biological science and mapping agency—the gold standard for information that helps keep us, our communities, and our businesses alive and thriving. The agency is also vigilantly non-partisan.
Without a fully functioning USGS, the National Weather Service cannot issue accurate flood warnings. Transportation agencies won’t know how strong or high to build bridges. Water management agencies—like the Georgia Environmental Protection Division—won’t be able to balance water requirements for homes, businesses, farms, and ecosystems.
On Atlanta’s Chattahoochee River and elsewhere, boaters, fishermen, and swimmers won’t know if the water is safe. Two years ago, a water quality monitoring program managed by USGS, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, and the National Park Service identified—and ultimately stopped—a massive sewage spill into the river that summer.
When an exceptional drought scorched north Georgia in the late 2000s and lake levels plummeted, USGS provided real-time monitoring data that helped local and state officials make critical public health and safety decisions. When epic floods deluged Atlanta in September 2009 and caused more than $500 million in damage to homes and businesses, USGS personnel worked round-the-clock to provide the National Weather Service and the public with vital information.
Termination Proposed
Not long after businessman Elon Musk began to wave his destructive wand over federal agencies as instructed by Donald Trump, his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) proposed to terminate leases for more than thirty water science centers around the country. In March, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper discovered that the South Atlantic Water Science Center (Science Center) located in Norcross was
on the hit list; the facility coordinates the monitoring of waterways throughout Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
With its lease set to expire in the near future, our Science Center was apparently low-hanging fruit for those intent on strangling the federal government in the name of efficiency. No analysis of closure impacts on the local economies, communities, or the environment had been conducted to justify the termination.
The closure of the Science Center would save a paltry sum (a little over a million dollars a year), while jeopardizing the collection and evaluation of monitoring data needed by weather forecasters, emergency responders, insurance carriers, and the public. According to one knowledgeable observer, disaster managers would be “flying blind,” as data vanished.
Power of Persistence
After CRK and others briefed Georgia’s U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, they issued a joint letter in April to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. The letter stated that the closure of the Science Center would hamper our state’s ability to safeguard people, property, and the environment. Public statements by the senators at hearings, media coverage, and strong public opposition led to an unexpected DOGE reversal.
Secretary Burgum rescinded the termination of the USGS Center lease in mid-June. He acknowledged a mistake had been made and highlighted the Science Center’s importance for clean drinking water sources and water flows needed for agriculture, industries, military bases, and others uses. That crisis has been averted, at least for now.
This happy result underscores lessons I’ve learned over the decades. Action matters. Wins should be celebrated before tackling the next challenge; there will always be one. Leaders, like Senators Ossoff and Warnock, who demand that decisions be made based on facts and science, must be thanked and supported.
Still Under Attack
Our nation’s scientific infrastructure faces a multi-front attack—at USGS and dozens of other federal agencies whose mission is to safeguard the public’s health, safety, and welfare. Threats are increasing with the Trump regime’s fiscal year 2026 budget request.
The proposed budget includes a massive funding cut of $564 million for USGS: a recommendation in the Project 2025 policy playbook prepared by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Nearly 40 percent of the agency’s current budget will disappear if the proposal is approved. Under consideration—according to informed observers of the Trump anti-science machine—is a move to fundamentally shift the 150-year-old mission of the USGS. The agency would focus on the collection of data and not so much the analysis: a largely
meaningless exercise.
Proposed USGS budget cuts also call for the elimination of the agency’s biological research program (Ecosystem Mission Area). Real-time water and hazard data is critical to cope with the accelerating climate crisis. It is irresponsibly reckless to abolish a program that provides evidence-based solutions to help communities manage flooding, drought, wildfires, heat waves, and rising seas.
Conservation Fund buys threatened Okefenokee property
Ty Ty Tagami | Capitol Beat
The Alabama company that planned to mine titanium dioxide next to the Okefenokee Swamp has agreed to sell its property to an environmental fund, ending — for now — a threat to more than 350,000 acres of designated national wilderness that is home to several endangered and threatened species.
The Conservation Fund announced June 21 that it had agreed to buy Twin Pines Minerals’ property on Trail Ridge near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, ending a six-year effort to protect North America’s largest blackwater swamp.
“By purchasing this land from Twin Pines, The Conservation Fund will ensure that the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge remains wild and unspoiled for all Americans,” Stacy Funderburke, the Fund’s vice president for the central Southeast region, said in a statement.
Funderburke said in an interview that the Fund had agreed to pay about $60 million
for the nearly 8,000-acre property. The transaction will occur in two phases, with the first phase Friday involving a transaction for 40% of the purchase price and the final closing July 31. He said his organization continues to raise money for that final phasetwo transaction.
Twin Pines had no comment but confirmed the sale through a spokesman. The fund pulled together money from private donors with the help of advocacy group One Hundred Miles.
“Twin Pines’ decision to sell their land to a conservation buyer instead of to a mining company is a respectable response to the hundreds of thousands of voices who have spoken out against the mining proposal,” Megan Desrosiers, president and CEO of One Hundred Miles, said in a statement.
About a quarter million people submitted comments against the mining project to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and to the state of Georgia, said the Southern Environmental Law Center, which worked against the mine.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Kodac Harrison’s memoir chronicles 40 years as a musician and poet
By Collin Kelley
Kodac Harrison’s new memoir, “Chasing My Vagabond Heart,” chronicles more than 40 years in the life of the musician, poet, artist, photographer, and emcee. And while he might call himself a vagabond, the term renaissance man more aptly describes his devotion to Atlanta’s art scene.
Harrison, 76, began working on the memoir more than 13 years ago, then put it away while touring, releasing albums and poetry collections, and getting married to his wife, Patty. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he pulled the book out of the drawer and began again.
“I spent a lot of time taking out ‘verys’ and other adjectives,” Harrison said, taking sage advice from Gertrude Stein to Ernest Hemingway. He also worked with local poets Travis Denton and Katie Chaple on honing the manuscript into its final form.
Harrison spent many months poring over extensive photo albums, notebooks, and correspondence to flesh out the memoir that covers his most active
years from 1972 to 2010. The memoir is punctuated by his poems and lyrics, offering the “stories behind the songs.”
A native of Jackson, GA, Harrison graduated from Georgia Tech and then received a master’s degree in business administration from Tulane University. But he couldn’t get the idea of being a musician out of his mind.
While studying in New Orleans, Harrison honed his guitar and songwriting skills before heading west to California. His first gig was in 1975 in Salinas at a bar called East of Eden, named after famed resident John Steinbeck, where he played regularly for a year.
Harrison would go on to spend time in Texas, a commune in West Virginia, New York, and a stint in the Army. In the 1980s, he decided to plug in and become a rock and roll star, but a nearfatal car accident in 1989 made him re-evaluate his career.
“I realized I didn’t need to be a rock and roll star, and decided to go back to my acoustic guitar and move to Decatur,” he said.
Harrison became a regular performer
Kodac Harrison
at Trackside Tavern and later at Eddie’s Attic. As his presence in the indie music scene grew, Harrison also found an audience in Europe – especially Germany – and has made seven tours of the continent, including a spot at the Prague International Jazz Festival.
In 1997, Harrison began laying the foundation for the nascent Intown poetry scene that blossomed in the 2000s. He hosted gigs at Gravity Pub and the Margaret Mitchell House before finally landing at Java Monkey Coffee House in 2001.
The weekly Java Monkey Speaks open mic was a cultural watershed, with future Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists Jericho Brown, Natasha Trethewey, and Patricia Smith as well as new City Lights
co-host Jon Goode gracing the stage. Every Sunday night, the large patio was overflowing with onlookers and there was often a waiting list for those hoping to get a spot on the mic.
Harrison presided over Java Monkey Speaks for more than 15 years and co-edited five award-winning poetry anthologies featuring poets who had appeared on the mic. He passed the emcee duties to poet Theresa Davis in 2016, who carried on until a disgruntled former employee set the coffee shop on fire in 2018. It never reopened, and the space is now The Reading Room.
“Java Monkey Speaks was one of my biggest accomplishments,” Harrison said.
“I’m very proud of it.”
Davis continues to carry the torch by
hosting a weekly virtual open mic called “Java Speaks” on Sunday nights at 7:30 p.m.
An essential tremor, now under control after surgery at Emory University Hospital, sidelined him from playing the guitar for a number of years, but he now performs monthly and hosts an open mic at Wild Heaven Beer in Avondale Estates called “Kodac’s Last Thursday.”
After releasing more than 20 albums over the last 40 years, he is currently working on what he said will be his final record.
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‘The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick’ recalls a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ activism
By Collin Kelley
Author Martin Padgett has a way of summoning back an Atlanta that now only exists in memory, historical archives, and YouTube videos. In his first book, “A Night at the Sweet Gum Head,” Padgett tapped into the intersection of the gay rights movement and the drag scene that flourished in the city in the 1970s.
Now, in his new nonfiction book “The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS,” Padgett recreates Atlanta in the 1980s and cements Hardwick as a historical figure, whose selfless act of defiance still reverberates in today’s politics.
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reveal the man behind the headlines and court documents.
“Michael only spent four years in Atlanta in total,” Padgett said. “It was a puzzle to solve, because Michael lived in so many places as he endured the pain and public humiliation, and later his illness.”
Padgett would eventually land an interview with Hardwick’s last surviving sister, Susan, and then later with his attorney, Kathy Wilde, who led him to more legal contacts who had worked or had knowledge of the court case.
The book details Hardwick’s 1982 arrest for sodomy in his Virginia-Highland home and his fight to have the arcane law overturned by the Supreme Court. An unassuming bartender and artist, Padgett writes that Hardwick wasn’t looking for the spotlight or to have his name associated with gay rights. But the swell of anger over the invasion of his privacy put him in the headlines across the country in the 1980s.
Hardwick ultimately lost the case and would die of an AIDS-related illness in 1991 before Georgia finally overturned its sodomy law in 1998. It would be a new century before SCOTUS ruled in the Lawrence v. Texas case, which struck down sodomy laws nationwide in 2003. However, Georgia is one of 12 states that never officially repealed its sodomy law, which opens the door for it to be resurrected if the courts move against LGBTQ+ rights.
Hardwick galvanized the gay rights movement in the 80s, with the loss of his case decried as one of the Supreme Court’s most reviled rulings and led to protests here and across the U.S.
Today, privacy rights remain under fire by conservative politicians and the churches that back them. Abortion, contraception, and marriage equality are all still in play under the Trump administration, so Hardwick’s story is a good primer on where this fight began. There are elected officials in Georgia who support reinstating and enforcing the sodomy law, turning back the clock on privacy and civil rights.
Padgett had already been researching for his book on Hardwick while still promoting “A Night at the Sweet Gum Head” in 2021. The key was finding family and friends who could flesh out a portrait of Hardwick and
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returned to the archives of the Atlanta History Center, Georgia State University, and Emory University to create a backdrop of Atlanta in the 80s. Long-gone LGBTQ+ party haunts like Backstreet and The Cove, where Hardwick worked as a bartender, are rendered in rich detail.
Padgett, who lived in Atlanta for more than 20 years before relocating to Penscola, FL, said he’s still shocked by the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and attempts to roll back rights unleashed after Trump’s second election.
“I thought we had won all these things in 2015 when Obergefell v. Hodges ushered in marriage equality,” Padgett said. “I steadfastly believed we wouldn’t be here at this moment up until Nov. 5.”
Former President Joe Biden appears in the epilogue of “The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick,” answering a question sent to him by Padgett in 2023. Biden states that he’s “never been more optimistic about the future of America.”
“The note from Biden is a bittersweet ‘what could have been’,” Padgett said. “It will take a generation to overcome the obstacles put in our way these next four years.”
Padgett will read and sign his book on Thursday, July 31, 6:30 p.m. at the DeKalb History Center. Get more details at dekalbhistory.org.
with “Sweet Gum Head,” Padgett
Martin Padgett
Georgia Film Academy opening
By Sammie Purcell
The Georgia Film Academy (GFA) and Assembly Studios are planning to open a new training facility for students.
According to a press release, the 32,000 square foot training facility will be located adjacent to Assembly Studios’ complex in Doraville. GFA Executive Director Scott Votaw said that he and Assembly VP of Studio Operations Justin Campbell have been talking about partnering for some time.
“It’s the only way that you can learn an artistic craft like film and entertainment,” Votaw said about hands-on training. “It’s a hands-on business. You can theorize all you want, you can read books, and you can watch YouTube videos, but until you really have done it, it’s very difficult to connect the dots.”
GFA is an education initiative operated in partnership with institutions in the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia, and independent universities in the state.
The Assembly training facility is expected to open on Aug. 18. While GFA has other training facilities around the state, their main hub is Trilith Studios in Fayetteville. Votaw said part of the reason he is excited about the new Assembly location is its accessibility. The studio is directly accessible from the MARTA Gold line.
“If we want to be diverse and provide opportunities for all Georgians, this is the way to do it,” Votaw said. “Being on the MARTA line creates the opportunity and capability for students from every walk of life, regardless of their socioeconomic position.
According to Votaw, the Trilith training facility is geared towards traditional film and television production. With Assembly, he hopes that GFA can also look toward the future.
“At the Assembly Studios model, we’re really moving into a very progressive mode, with
new media, streaming, as well as film and television,” he said.
In addition to everything a crew might need to shoot a major motion picture – a shop, an art department, a grip and electric demonstration room, a sound stage, and more – the Assembly training facility will also include something unique: an exterior backlot built inside the building.
“The biggest struggle with teaching students how to work outside is if it rains for two or three days, I lose days of instruction that I can’t get back in a semester model where I have students coming for 16 weeks,” Votaw said. “So, we decided to teach a lot of that in an interior environment.”
Designed by Michael Gowen, who served as art director on movies like “Jumanji: The Next Level” and “El Camino,” the indoor “GFA Main Street” will connect to all of the other aspects of the facility. Though the training center is set to open in August, the backlot will be a work in progress for the next year or two.
“[The backlot] will be not only something the students can work on, but the students will be building and augmenting and changing as part of their class,” Votaw said.
According to Votaw, Georgia Film Academy now has a footprint in cities like Savannah, Columbus, and Athens. If he sees a need for more training facilities in the future, they’ll tackle that goal.
“Wherever business is going, we’re gonna be there,” he said.
A rendering of “Main Street GFA,” the indoor backlot at Georgia Film Academy’s new training facility with Assembly Studios. (Courtesy Georgia Film Academy)
Courtesy Georgia Film Academy
Meet some of the lovable mascots of Atlanta restaurants
By Sarra Sedghi
Restaurants are more than a source of sustenance.
Sometimes, they’re the cat inspecting used dishes or the cockatoo greeting you on the trek from the parking lot. These pets quickly become unofficial restaurant mascots, whether they like it or not, but in most cases, they love the attention.
Get to know the mascots repping six Atlanta restaurants, from a trio of tropical birds greeting diners at R. Thomas Deluxe Grill to the Maltipoo lending support at Polish pop-up Beksa Lala to the feline maître d’ at Monday night supper club Wick and Nick’s.
Hoshi Minhwa Spirits
Hoshi started hanging around the Minhwa Spirits patio after the distillery and restaurant incubator opened last year in Doraville.
Named for a South Korean pop singer, whose fans insist resembles a cat, the human Hoshi is known for his feline-like gestures. Hoshi, the actual cat, is best known for his coy antics on Minhwa’s patio.
“He plays hard to get. [He] will roll around meowing,” said Minhwa Spirits coowner Ming Han Chung. “One step towards him, and he’s gone.”
Hoshi quickly amassed a small fan club — Chung says Minhwa has had multiple
customers visit in hopes of seeing the mischievous orange cat. Those who can’t approach Hoshi, however, can still claim a version of him thanks to local illustrator Tiffblot.
“He’s on a keychain we give away,” Chung said.
Andrew Lee, co-owner of Postern Coffee at Minhwa Spirits, tried to take Hoshi in, but was never able to get close enough to catch the stray cat. Minhwa beverage director James Sung (Palo Santo, Umi) is currently trying to catch Hoshi, too. He worries for Hoshi, because cats living outdoors are exposed to more danger. Chung’s friend, MJ Kim, works with local rescues and has provided guidance, cat food, and a trapneuter-return (TNR) for Hoshi.
In the meantime, Chung is considering creating and selling a Hoshi sticker to help raise funds for a local animal shelter or animal rescue.
Lisa “Left Eye” Low Paws
Polish pop-up Beksa Lala
Lisa walked right into Basia Piechoczek’s life—or, rather, onto her neighbor’s porch. Piechoczek and her partner knew it wasn’t the neighbor’s dog, so they lured her with roast beef and brought her to the Atlanta Humane Society’s new Fulton Industrial location to check for a microchip and to spay the dog. When no one claimed her, they quickly adopted Lisa.
“As soon as she jumped in my lap, I knew she would become part of the family,” Piechoczek said.
Lisa’s name is a reference to the late TLC music group member and Atlanta native Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, and the dog’s appearance when she showed up on the West End porch.
“When we first saw her, it looked like she didn’t have a left eye,” Piechoczek said. “Turns out it was just infected, and we got it treated.”
Lisa has become well adjusted to pop-up
life. Sometimes when Piechoczek is cooking Polish food for Beksa Lala at Boggs Social and Supply in Westview, her partner, Drew, drops by with the Maltipoo mutt in tow.
“She has quickly become a celebrity there,” Piechoczek said.
Lisa tags along with Piechoczek on prep trips, but stays out of the kitchen. Customers are more likely to encounter the Beksa Lala mascot on a run to drop off pierogi and to check stock at Pure Quill Superette.
Bowie
Pure Quill Superette/Rising Son/Whoopsie’s
French Bulldog Bowie might just be the IT dog of Atlanta’s dining scene. Chef Hudson Rouse’s family has had Bowie for five years now.
“My mom and daughter brought him home one day even though I said we didn’t need a puppy,” Rouse said.
In that time, Bowie has overseen the development of Rouse’s two most recent restaurants, Pure Quill Superette and Whoopsie’s. Rouse said Bowie started hanging out with him during the construction of Whoopsie’s two years ago.
“He loved to sit at the front door and watch people walking down the sidewalk [and] the same thing for Pure Quill,” Rouse said. “Once both got finished, he just kept coming up [to the restaurants] because he became such a staple. All of our employees love him as well as the customers.”
Now, of course, Bowie is just as much a part of Rouse’s restaurants as in-house jam at Rising Son or Whoopsie’s blue plate specials on plastic trays. Bowie can manipulate Rouse to bring him along with a signature stare. He gets more exercise and pets at Pure Quill, Rouse said, but receives more snacks and kisses at Whoopsie’s.
Bowie also frequents Rising Son’s bar and patio in Avondale Estates and
Continued on page 28
Lisa at the Beksa Lala pop-up at Boggs Social and Supply. (Photo by Ryan Fleisher)
Bowie, owned by Chef Hudson Rouse, is the unofficial mascot of Whoopsie’s and Pure Quill Superette. (Photo by Ryan Fleisher)
from page 26
meticulously checks the floor for biscuit crumbs (sadly for Bowie, they’re seldom to none). Fortunately, he gets better luck with meat scraps at Pure Quill.
“He sits directly down from the butcher counter at any time someone is cutting meat,” Rouse said. “He knows he’s going to get a snack.”
Waylon Wick and Nick’s Supper Club
Those lucky enough to have attended a Wick and Nick’s Blueblood dinner have likely encountered Waylon slinking around the loft apartment or even rubbing against their legs. Chefs Ben Skolnick and Jared Warwick are well aware that Waylon is part of their Monday night supper club’s spectacle. Waylon’s catlanta lineage runs deep — he and four other kittens were found near The Earl in East Atlanta Village and were housed by a local cat lady for eight weeks.
Waylon eventually ended up with the
supper club duo, although he did spend nearly a year with Skolnick’s grandmother, Mary Lou Heidt, before she passed away. It was Heidt who taught Waylon etiquette. Holiday dinner parties introduced Waylon to hosting, and more importantly, duck.
“His first nibble had him hooked and wailing for more ever since,” Skolnick said. “We’ve even caught him listening to conversations during menu development and making suggestive gestures of approval when duck is mentioned.”
Waylon has since learned to flourish during the pop-up dinners. He regularly makes his rounds, seeking pets and sometimes offering head butts as a sign of approval. He’s acted out as well, surreptitiously untying the shoelaces of guests on four occasions.
Ruby, Peaches, and Cream
R. Thomas Deluxe Grill
On Monday mornings, a chorus of squawks rings from R. Thomas Deluxe Grill’s iconic bird cages. Ruby, Peaches, and
Cream are excited to see their mom. Cheryl Krawchuk, a retired nurse and longtime Papaygo Rescue House volunteer, has been tending to the R. Thomas birds for about 20 years. In that time, the flock has dwindled. A few have died. Sparkle, a yellow-naped Amazon parrot, found a home with one of Krawchuk’s fellow Papaygo volunteers.
Krawchuk shows up on Mondays to help preen the birds and give each of them one-on-one time. As prey animals, birds are naturally suspicious, but regular exposure to customers and a bond with someone they trust — in this case, Krawchuk — have made these tropical birds very friendly.
People who stop by the cages may encounter Krawchuk at work with the birds and get the chance to observe Ruby’s affectionate wing stretches or Peaches and Cream press their heads against the bars in hopes of a scratch — and, of course, a chance to hear them speak: Hello! Bye-bye! Pretty bird!
“They talk when they feel like it,” Krawchuk said. “They learn what they want to, what sounds cool to them.”
Ruby, a macaw hybrid, was originally one of late-founder Richard Thomas’ pets, while the Moluccan cockatoos Peaches and Cream were purchased at a bird show 18 years ago.
With the restaurant up for sale, however, the future of the birds remains uncertain; Thomas’ granddaughter has offered to adopt Ruby, and Krawchuk says Peaches and Cream are welcome at Papaygo if they can’t immediately find owners, because the two birds will have to be adopted as a pair to keep the brothers together.
Spot
Your 3rd
Spot
Spot, a one-year-old Italian Greyhound, fits a lot of spirit and affection into her 10-pound frame.
Michelin Guide to the American South drops Nov. 3
By Beth McKibben
The inaugural Michelin Guide to the American South drops Nov. 3, with the ceremony taking place at the Peace Center in downtown Greenville, SC, which is Michelin’s North American headquarters.
The 2025 dining guide folds in the previously released Atlanta guide, along with restaurants in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee. Outside of metro Atlanta, however, the 2025 American South guide will not feature any other Georgia restaurants, including those in nationally celebrated dining scenes like Macon, Athens, and Savannah.
“The MICHELIN Guide Atlanta launched in 2023, as it proved to be a culturally diverse city with a vibrant culinary scene. Beginning in 2025, the Atlanta MICHELIN Guide selection will be included in the American South regional edition,” a Michelin representative commented when asked about omitting Georgia as a whole.
This is only the beginning of our story with the American South region, and as
the MICHELIN Guide looks to the future, we observe very often the extension of its geographical scope within a state or a region over time,” they added.
While the representative declined to elaborate further, the omission of Georgia restaurants outside the metro Atlanta region likely came down to restrictions in the tourism partnership between Travel South USA and Michelin. The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, which helped bring the Michelin Guide to the city in 2023 and then to the metro area in 2024, will join forces with Travel South to help produce the 2025 guide.
Restaurants featured in the 2025 guide to the American South will receive invitations to the ceremony later this fall, where Michelin will reveal designations for each establishment.
In addition to announcing the restaurants earning stars and Bib Gourmands and those listed as recommendations in the 2025 American South guide, Michelin will also present awards for exceptional cocktails, outstanding sommelier, outstanding service, and young chef during the Nov. 3
ceremony.
Michelin launched the Atlanta guide in 2023, with its anonymous dining inspectors focusing on restaurants within the Perimeter. In 2024, Michelin expanded the guide into Atlanta’s northern suburbs.
Of the 57 restaurants recognized in the 2024 Atlanta Michelin Guide, nine restaurants earned one star. Five suburban restaurants made the 2024 guide, including Woo Nam Jeong (Stone Bowl House), Hen Mother Cookhouse, Masterpiece, Table & Main, and Spring.
“She’s full of energy, loves to jump and run, and absolutely lights up around other dogs,” said Josh Rossmeisl, Your 3rd Spot’s founder and chief vision officer. “While she can be a little nervous, at first, she quickly warms up, especially when she’s around people.”
Rossmeisl didn’t have to ponder too hard on Spot’s name; brand ties aside, the “Chief Barketing Officer” has — you guessed it — a spot on her neck.
Spot often greets people at the entrance to Your 3rd Spot, but she can also be found walking around The Works complex on Chattahoochee Avenue getting groomed (or treats) at Woof Gang Bakery and Grooming, or running at nearby Fetch Dog Park. When Spot isn’t at Your 3rd Spot, you can find her photo on the wall there.
Restaurants in the Atlanta guide join over 17,000 restaurants from around the world recognized by Michelin.
According to the Georgia Restaurant Association, there are more than 12,000 restaurants in metro Atlanta. The counties of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale, and the city of Atlanta comprise the metro Atlanta region, home to 6.3 million people.
The French tire company began publishing a series of guidebooks for motorists in the early 20th century, featuring general maintenance on the newly invented automobile, along with information on finding fuel and hotels and where to eat while traveling. Single-star ratings began in 1926, followed by twoand three-star ratings in 1936.
Ruby squawks for the camera at R. Thomas Deluxe Grill in Buckhead. (Photo by Ryan Fleisher)
Spot, an Italian Greyhound, is the mascot at Your 3rd Spot. (Photo by Ryan Fleisher) Continued
Ground broken for renovation of historic Atlanta Constitution building
By Collin Kelley
Renovation of the historic Atlanta Constitution building in Downtown into a mixed-use development is underway.
Invest Atlanta and development partner Gorman & Company held a groundbreaking ceremony for the project at 143 Alabama Street on June 5. Built in 1947 as the headquarters of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, the Art Modernestyle building has sat derelict for decades, but will now be transformed into Folio House.
The first phase will stabilize and restore the building’s exterior and 5,575 square feet of ground floor commercial space in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
An adjacent outdoor area called “The Pitch” will be used for cultural and World Cup-related events. Phase one will also include converting the upper floors into 50
affordable housing units available at 30 to 80 percent of the area median income.
Phase one was approved for a $3.5 million Westside TAD Ascension Fund grant to ensure long-term affordability and equitable access to housing and commercial opportunities.
Phase two will add a new 151-unit affordable housing building on the surrounding property, further addressing the city’s housing needs. Once complete, the site is expected to include more than 190 affordable housing units, according to a press release from Invest Atlanta.
“The transformation of 143 Alabama is part of a broader vision of an equitable downtown revitalization that already includes 2 Peachtree and properties on Trinity and Forsyth,” Mayor Andre Dickens said at the groundbreaking event. “These investments are testaments to the strength of public-private
partnerships – how they can turn vacant and underutilized buildings into thriving community-serving spaces.”
Invest Atlanta CEO Eloisa Klementich described the project as transit-oriented development thanks to its easy access to the under-refurbishment Five Points MARTA Station.
“Once completed, this redevelopment will make a major impact with over $107 million in leveraged investment and $130 million in total economic output projected,” Klementich said.
Atlanta’s efforts to combat homelessness show promising results
By Logan C. Ritchie
Chronic homelessness has dropped nine percent thanks in part to the City of Atlanta and local agencies’ dedication to rehoming people, a new report states.
Partners for HOME (Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone) found that pandemic-related homelessness is stabilizing. “We are at a critical inflection point — on the cusp of decreasing homelessness in Atlanta,” the 2025 Point In Time Count report states.
The Point In Time Count is a census of unhoused people that occurs in late January, as federally mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is an approximate number, used to gauge changes over time. In Atlanta, the count is done annually.
In January 2020, more than 3,240 people were experiencing homelessness in the City of Atlanta. In January 2025, the numbers were down to 2,867 people.
In Atlanta, nearly 200 nonprofit, government, and community agencies work together to end homelessness, led by Partners for HOME. These agencies created a strategic goal in 2023 to reduce and end homelessness by closing encampments and providing housing and services to their residents, thereby increasing access to housing for all people experiencing homelessness – especially for the most vulnerable.
The chronically homeless population is the most vulnerable, and highly prioritized by Partners for HOME. These are individuals with “a long-term, disabling condition” ranging from severe mental illness, addiction, chronic medical
conditions, or a combination thereof, and have long spans of homelessness.
“We need the right types of housing at the right affordability with the right complement of supportive services to ensure [vulnerable] folks have access to housing and can stabilize in housing and not return to homelessness,” said Partners for HOME CEO Cathryn Vassell.
Homelessness factors include the affordability of rent and the availability of affordable housing, but other factors include mental health, chronic medical conditions, addiction, and network impoverishment (a person’s support system).
Since 2022, 1,850 households have been housed through homelessness response initiatives alone.
“There’s a lot of movement in and out of the homeless system on any given day. About half of the number of people who were surveyed this year were not in our data system yet, so they had not yet accessed resources or services,” Vassell said. “People come in and out of homelessness
all the time.”
Drilling down into the demographics:
■ 95 percent of homeless people who have been counted in Atlanta are living without children;
■ 73 percent identify as male, 26 percent identify as female, and about one percent identify as trans, nonbinary, or multiple genders;
■ Five percent makes up households with adults and minor children, which totals about 131 families in 2025;
■ Black people are disproportionately represented. While 47 percent of the city’s population is Black, 83 percent of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness are Black;
■ Youth and veteran homelessness declined six percent and three percent, respectively;
■ Homeless families with children have seen an increase of 14 percent, or 400 people.
“We have continued to focus our efforts on rehousing and getting folks out of homelessness as quickly as possible, and [Mayor Andre Dickens’] administration is certainly squarely focused on that, as well as on increasing the availability of affordable housing across our community,” Vassell said.
Dickens has committed to building 500 quick-delivery housing units with wraparound services by the end of 2025. The Melody, Atlanta’s first rapid housing community, is a community of 40 microunits made from shipping containers. In December 2024, 729 Bonaventure opened with 23 furnished apartments in Virginia Highland.
“Another 400 units are in development or under contract as we speak, so we will deliver over 1,000 new units of supportive housing between now and the end of this year … which is the most supportive housing we’ve ever been able to deliver in in such a short period of time,” Vassell said.
(Chart supplied by Point in Time Count)
A rendering of the renovated Atlanta Constitution building.. (Courtesy Gorman & Co.)
Groundbreaking held for redevelopment of Atlanta Medical Center site
By Collin Kelley
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday, June 30, for the redevelopment of the Atlanta Medical Center site in Old Fourth Ward.
The property has been dormant since Wellstar abruptly closed the hospital in 2022. The City of Atlanta imposed a development moratorium on the property before approving a plan with development firm Integral.
The 22-acre site is now destined to become a mixed-use development dubbed Boulevard NEXT (or BLVDNEXT) with residential, retail, and offices with "health and wellness resources" guided by Wellstar.
Wellstar attributed the closure of the 120-year-old medical center – originally known as Georgia Baptist Hospital – to major financial losses. The announcement shocked Atlanta leaders and left the region with Grady Memorial Hospital as the only Level 1 trauma center.
During the groundbreaking, demolition began on one of the main medical buildings on the property.
Despite pleas from local preservationists, there is no plan to keep the original 1920s-era Georgia Baptist Hospital building that sits surrounded by the 1950s and later campus expansion. However, Integral said it plans to preserve part of the facade.
"Atlanta has a remarkable catalog of 20th-century buildings that will now appear will be threatened due to the lack of protections and governed by local recognition," Atlanta Preservation Center Executive Director David Y. Mitchell said. "The slow destruction of Georgia Baptist should be a sobering reminder to not only do better, but to advocate for Atlanta's built and cultural resources before they are gone."
Integral also unveiled its first public art installation at the site in partnership with arts collective and cultural strategy studio NEXT. Atlanta artist Tracy Murell's large-scale work now wraps the construction.
The former Atlanta Medical Center in Old Fourth Ward. (File)
Artist Tracy Murrell with her art installation at BLVDNEXT. (Photo by Terence Rushin)
Demolition equipment moves into place. (Courtesy NEXT)
The Integral Group Chairman and CEO Egbert Perry speaks at the groundbreaking. (Courtesy NEXT)
Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman. (Photo by Sherri Daye Scott)
