Griffin’s historic City Hall, designed by Atlanta architect Haralson Bleckley and completed in 1910, included city council chambers, a fire hall and City offices. After the City offices vacated the building in 2003, it sat vacant, the roof deteriorated and significant water damage occurred. After being designated a Georgia Trust Place in Peril in 2014, the citizens of Griffin rallied behind Historic City Hall, passing a SPLOST bill to fund the rehabilitation. Substantial improvements were required to carefully rehabilitate the building, a process that spanned from 2017 to 2019. The project included the removal of a non-contributing 1950s City Police Department addition, sensitively integrating new systems and technology, and rehabilitating the historic spaces for modern use. Following the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, the main focus of the project was to retain the historic fabric and replace in-kind where materials were missing or no longer sound. The building now houses offices for the City’s Economic Development department and rentable event space, including the historic city council chamber, with rehabilitated stage and balcony, conference rooms, and the fire hall, which involved the reconstruction of wood fire hall doors on the west elevation. This project exemplifies an outstanding rehabilitation project and we would like to acknowledge the determination of the leadership and citizens of Griffin who have proven that where there’s a will there’s a way.

The building also received an award for Excellence in Rehabilitation.

The Marguerite Williams Award is presented annually to the project that has had the greatest impact on preservation in the state.

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Built by Frank Corker, the Corker building opened in 1898. Located within the Dublin Commercial Historic District, it was originally home to Gilbert Hardware Company before eventually becoming the J.C. Penney’s department store. In 1965 J.C. Penney covered the historic façade with a curtain wall and removed most of the storefront. In later years, the building was further modernized but fell in disrepair. As downtown Dublin had begun to transform over the last decade, community leadership recognized the need for significant public investment in the area surrounding the Corker building to ensure its revitalization.  The right partners were brought to the table and in 2016, a rehabilitation project was undertaken. The curtain wall was carefully removed and all of the missing historic features were replaced based on documented physical and pictorial evidence. Windows that were boarded up were opened and replicated to match the original historic size and type. A non-contributing rear addition was removed to re-establish the historic rear entrance. The result was an adaptive reuse that saved the historic storefront and provided office space for Curry Maffett Insurance Company, the new owners, on the ground level and five new residential spaces on the second floor. Fostering new hope and appreciation for old buildings, the rehabilitation of the Corker Building is deeply intertwined with the revitalization of Dublin’s commercial historic district and is a wonderful product of true private-public partnership.

The building also received an award for Excellence in Rehabilitation.

The Chairman’s Award is presented at the sole discretion of the Georgia Trust Chairman of the Board of Trustees to recognize extraordinary efforts contributing to the preservation of Georgia’s historic resources.

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Built in 1899, the Eagle Saloon originally occupied the two-story cornerstone building at 201 N. Broad Street in downtown Bainbridge. Over the decades and multiple occupants, the building had been updated numerous times with stucco covering the brick facade, aluminum veneer applied to the commercial storefront and multiple upper story windows being covered. After sitting vacant, the property was rescued by Doug Young, a preservation minded developer. Starting with careful demolition, layers of inappropriate additions were removed. Fortunately the original upper-story windows, including a beautiful arched window that had been covered, were salvaged and restored. Two original cast iron columns at the storefront entrance were also discovered intact. Using historic photos, the historic storefront configuration and second floor balcony were reconstructed. The project provided an updated commercial space on the ground floor and added two new residential units above.  For a small rural community in southwest Georgia, downtown Bainbridge is proud to add these to a healthy downtown community. Since the completion of the project, a boutique hotel, new restaurant, salon and boutique are all slated to relocate or open in neighboring buildings, illustrating the significant impact the rehabilitation of this cornerstone building has had on downtown Bainbridge.

The building also received an award for Excellence in Rehabilitation.

The Michael L. Starr Award was created in 2020 in memory of Mike Starr, former Board Chair of the Georgia Trust and the Georgia Cities Foundation. This award honors the rehabilitation of a downtown historic building which best exemplifies the highest standards of historic rehabilitation and has a significant impact on the downtown of the city in which it is located.

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The Battle of Atlanta cyclorama painting is a 360-degree oil-on-canvas depiction of the Battle of Atlanta during the Civil War. Completed in 1886, the painting had been on public display in Grant Park since the 1890s and was eventually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. In 2014, a plan was initiated to relocate and restore the cyclorama for display at the Atlanta History Center, along with the 1856 Western & Atlantic Railroad locomotive Texas, which it has been displayed with since 1911. The project involved the planning and construction of a new building at the Atlanta History Center and elaborate preparation for the move and relocation. A team of Swiss, German, and American art conservators examined and prepared the painting for the move. It was then rolled onto two scrolls and moved by cranes and flatbed semi-trailers using a skilled team of riggers and truckers to the new Lloyd and Mary Ann Whitaker Cyclorama Building at the Atlanta History Center. Many months of conservation and restoration work followed, and the conserved painting and its restored diorama opened to the public in February 2019. Through digital interactives, an introductory film projected onto the painting, and a variety of unique artifacts and activities, visitors to the new exhibit are encouraged to think critically about how history is made.

Awards for Excellence in Restoration recognize exemplary restoration of historic structures. An accurate restoration project depicts the form, features and character of a historic building as it appeared at a particular period of time. Restoration requires sensitive upgrading of mechanical systems and other code-required work to make the site functional.

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The Fairview School in Cave Spring is one of the few remaining school buildings in Georgia constructed explicitly for the education of African American students during the Jim Crow era. The school was in operation from 1925 until 1954. After its closing, the campus suffered from years of neglect and deterioration, leading to the demolition of three of the four buildings on the former campus. Unrecognizable and enveloped by overgrown vines and vegetation in 2009, the First Grade Classroom Building, the sole remaining building at Fairview, was listed on the Georgia Trust’s Places in Peril list in 2011, bringing much-need attention to the structure, thus beginning the long march towards bringing Fairview back to life. Under the strong leadership of Joyce Perdue Smith and the Fairview Board of Directors, and the help of countless volunteers and community members, including architect Joseph Smith of Architectural Collaborative and his team, efforts began to restore the historic building, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. In 2018, a major donor, Wes Walraven, came on board with a generous matching grant, securing the Fairview team’s first large-scale community fundraising drive. That effort, coupled with another CLG grant award to Fairview, raised the funds for the restoration of the First Grade Classroom Building, which was completed in February 2019. The care and dedication shown by all involved to uphold a high standard of preservation resulted in a restored building that retains more than 90% of its original material. Restoration of this historically significant landmark will continue to tell the story of rural African American schoolchildren in the era of segregated education while also speaking to, and actively contributing to, the education of twenty-first century schoolchildren.

Awards for Excellence in Restoration recognize exemplary restoration of historic structures. An accurate restoration project depicts the form, features and character of a historic building as it appeared at a particular period of time. Restoration requires sensitive upgrading of mechanical systems and other code-required work to make the site functional.

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The Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters in Savannah is a National Historic Landmark owned and operated by the Telfair Museum of Art. Designed in the Regency style by renowned English architect William Jay in 1816, the historic house is one of Savannah’s premier house museums, allowing visitors a glimpse of early 19th century Savannah. Over the past 200 years, the house’s upper floors had undergone significant restoration; however, the basement had been left virtually untouched throughout the 20th century. Because of this, Telfair saw the relatively undisturbed basement walls, floors, and ceilings as more than a backdrop to the new exhibits. These surfaces expose raw, unrefined evidence of 200 years of use by the home’s free and enslaved inhabitants. Alterations to the basement were made to address and remove a 1960s air handler installation and reconfigure a new air system to the building while adhering to strict preservation guidelines and carefully preserving structural elements that required stabilization. The result of this project was the completely restored visual impact of the basement space. The original character of the building is once again visible in these previously overlooked areas, and now, Telfair is better able to tell the underrepresented stories of the enslaved persons and servants who once worked in these spaces.

Awards for Excellence in Restoration recognize exemplary restoration of historic structures. An accurate restoration project depicts the form, features and character of a historic building as it appeared at a particular period of time. Restoration requires sensitive upgrading of mechanical systems and other code-required work to make the site functional.

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Blue Springs Plantation was first assembled in the 1920s by William C. Potter of New York. In 1930, Potter commissioned Hentz, Adler and Shutze of Atlanta to design the main house. In 1957 Edward Vason Jones of Albany was hired to add Classical Revival dependencies. Later in his career, Edward Jones worked as the architect for the White House under Nixon’s Administration. The house had suffered decades of deferred maintenance before the recent rehabilitation by new owners. The slate roof, original siding and woodwork on the exterior, and the original floors and plaster on the interior were all carefully repaired and refinished. The majority of original windows were retained and repaired as necessary. Using the original plans and remaining fragments found on-site, the original wrought iron balcony was restored in its original location on the front facade. Many of the original service areas have been updated in order to facilitate modern family living while still retaining the significant architectural features of the house.

Excellence in Rehabilitation Awards recognize projects that make compatible use of a building through repair, alterations or additions while preserving features of the property that convey its historic value.

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Standing among the headstones, obelisks and crypts, the Women’s Comfort Station originally served as one of two free-standing restrooms at Oakland Cemetery. Constructed in 1908 in the Italianate storefront style, the comfort stations were the first freestanding rest facilities in the City of Atlanta. Abandoned in the 1970s, the Women’s Comfort Station was used for decades as a storage shed. The rehabilitation process was a challenge due to the lack of photographic resources of the building. However, the preservation team was able to repair the historic blond brick masonry, complete reconstruction of the stone parapet roof, and salvage the building’s original pressed metal shingles. Inside the building, the decorative hexagonal mosaic was repaired using custom replicated tiles to fill in where needed. A paint analysis was also conducted and the building was returned to its original color scheme. All rehabilitation decisions and efforts were conducted with care and guidance, adhering to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Located at the intersection of the Jewish Grounds, the Confederate section and the African American Grounds, the Women’s Comfort Station now serves as an exhibit space providing opportunities to expand the remarkable narratives of Atlanta’s history.

Excellence in Rehabilitation Awards recognize projects that make compatible use of a building through repair, alterations or additions while preserving features of the property that convey its historic value.

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The building at 941 Ellis Street was constructed c. 1917 and used for several decades as space for various commercial vendors. Vacant for more than 20 years, the building had suffered from significant water damage caused by a sizable hole in the roof until Mark Donahue, a local contractor with a proven track record of rehabilitating historic buildings, purchased the building to adaptively redevelop as apartments. Original character-defining features of the building including exposed wooden trusses and beams, the rear and western windows and interior masonry details were gently cleaned and repaired. The project team made conscious alterations to the east wing of the building, where there were no existing windows. In order to comply with life safety requirements, quality of life and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, windows were cut with a small recessed porch area for each resident that are complimentary to the building but that can be understood as non-historic alterations. The rehabilitation of 941 Ellis Street has put 12 apartment units into service and is catalyzing the revitalization of the downtown block. With preservation minded individuals such as Mr. Donahue, the historic preservation option in the Augusta-Downtown Historic District remains an attractive tool with incentives for investors from all across the country and allows and provides a success story to educate and advocate for local preservation.

Excellence in Rehabilitation Awards recognize projects that make compatible use of a building through repair, alterations or additions while preserving features of the property that convey its historic value.

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