Petition Tag - historic preservation

Citizens of Athens Georgia are in a fight to save a beloved, historic landmark--Legion Pool. Built in the '30s, with "years of hard work and worry," the pool remains a vital community resource. However, the pool is more than that--it is one of the few remaining WPA pools of its type, not only in Georgia, but in the country.

When it was opened, it was deemed "the largest and most beautiful pool south of Richmond, Virginia." It has played an important part in training WWII divers, and in training Olympic athletes, and continues to play an important part in the life of the Athens community.

In 1952, Clarke County Superior Court Judge Henry West, in reviewing the offer by UGA to purchase the pool and surrounding acreage, noted that the pool was held and operated “more or less in the nature of a trust, built to serve the citizens of Athens.” And thus for 77 years it has been so operated for the benefit of the people."

However, the University of Georgia--which has neglected to create a preservation plan for its campus in compliance with Georgia Historic Code 12-3-55--has deemed it obsolete and plans to tear it down. We have evidence that the pool is not beyond a reasonable and economically feasible repair.

Instead of renovating the pool, which is what the community wants, for an estimated $490,000, the University intends to to build a much smaller pool for 2.6 million--a pool which will not be large enough to accommodate the families and children who now attend Legion Pool, in a much less hospitable setting, without the cover of trees.

This makes little economic sense, and we urge the DNR and the Board of Regents to encourage the University of Georgia in its responsibility to be a good steward of our historic and community resources.

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In support of creating a Local Historic District (LHD) for Newburyport, Massachusetts.

For more information about Newburyport's proposed Local Historic District (LHD) please go to the city's website here.

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The Grove Street Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark, garnered this rare designation in 2001 because it "represents a mile-stone in the development of a cemetery as a distinct institution" and "its monuments reflect the history of funerary art in America, while its entrance gate is recognized as one of the leading examples of Egyptian Revival style in the country."

Founded in 1797, the Cemetery was created as part of New Haven's great civic awakening when the Green was transformed from a village commons with burial grounds to a stately and distinguished town center. Creating a beautiful, secure, and quiet place to honor the city's dead was central to this great undertaking. The cemetery was designed with streets and lush shade trees to be a beautiful city of the dead.

Its distinctive stone wall which pre-dates the cemetery gate, was designed by sculptor Hezekiah Augur. Its monumental Egyptian Revival gate was designed by Henry Austin, a premiere architect of Romantic Revival architecture in America, who also designed New Haven City Hall and other beloved landmarks here and throughout New England. For more information see:
www.nhpt.org
http://www.grovestreetcemetery.org/

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Three historic buildings on Crown Street, in the heart of New Haven’s Ninth Square National Register District are open to the weather, and have recently been subject to extensive internal demolition. This demolition has been done in the absence of plans for the use and renovation of the buildings.

A petition drive has been launched to protect endangered buildings:

-- 26-28 Crown Street built c1875, a commercial block with the good detailing customary of the period – bracketed cornice work, arched cut stone window heads and lintels.

-- 30-36 Crown Street built c1875, a highly unusual curtain wall warehouse building, with exceptionally fine multi-paned windows and composition of its frame and infill construction.

-- 40-46 Crown Street, c1910, the S.Z. Field Building, an industrial printing plant fitted out with classical detailing to give it a lively and dignified street façade.

This block is Downtown New Haven's best, and one of Connecticut's only, remaining blocks of historic 19th century industrial architecture in a dense urban setting. These buildings are irreplaceable.

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