What to do with the Civic Center (Atlanta, Hiram: houses, neighborhoods)

[MathmanMathman]

The Civic Center is losing money (about 400k a year) and consultants say it should be refurbished.

Atlanta Civic Center faces red ink, should be updated,... | www.ajc.com

I'm not sure. I've been there once and I hate that venue. The location is not terrible but not that great either. It's a few blocks from Peachtree Center MARTA station but not really convenient to it. And it's not my favorite spot along the interstate to drive to.

The venue itself extends too far back (as does The Fox) so the backseats are too far from the stage. And it definitely needs more restrooms.

I believe Sci-Trek was there too and it failed. Maybe it's just not a good spot.

[Columbuskidd92]

Relocate.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

I'm not sure. I've been there once and I hate that venue. The location is not terrible but not that great either. It's a few blocks from Peachtree Center MARTA station but not really convenient to it. And it's not my favorite spot along the interstate to drive to.

Seriously? Peachtree Center? There's a whole station named for it that's a whole lot closer than Peachtree Center: MARTA - Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

Anyway, as for the venue itself, it's a dump and build on an old school philosphy. The best bet for the city is to either redevelop it as a movie/tv production studio (which it has done well as in the last few years) or bulldoze it and redo the whole area.

[Newsboy]

^^^ EXACTLY! From the very beginning there's been a MARTA station (the one over the Connector) named "Civic Center" -- even though it is nowhere near (well, 3-4 blocks) from the CC.

I haven't been to anything there in years. The theater was actually built and designed to specifically accommodate the Metropolitan Opera's annual season in Atlanta (which ended in the 1980s but remains a good example of how, even generations ago, Atlanta truly was the cultural center of the Southeast).

Anyway, ever since the Met quit their annual touring shows and the CC was made obsolete by other bigger NICER venues (the Fox restoration, the GWCC) the city has tried to figure out what to do with it. Even part of the surface parking lot was sold off to residential development.

The most logical thing to do with it -- AND THIS SEEMS LIKE A NO BRAINER -- is to convert it into a film / TV production studio. The former convention / Scitrek space is PERFECT for soundstages, and the theater could be utilized for studio audience productions. Isn't that where "Family Fued" is shot?

[aries4118]

I like the ideas on this thread.

1. Convert it into a film/TV production studio. Name: Buttermilk Bottom Studios


or


2. Bulldoze it, and make the area into a big park with at least some of the former wetlands restored. Name: Buttermilk Bottom Park

[bryantm3]

"buttermilk bottom" is not exactly a part of atlanta history a lot of people would like to commemorate. they called it that because the sewers stank like buttermilk because they were poorly designed in the valley.

as for the civic center, the front of the venue has some interesting architectural features, but the rest of it is just blank walls. the old sci-trek takes up most of the space on that block, they could take that out and build a high rise that has street level storefronts, and use the upper levels to do any number of things.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

"buttermilk bottom" is not exactly a part of atlanta history a lot of people would like to commemorate. they called it that because the sewers stank like buttermilk because they were poorly designed in the valley.

as for the civic center, the front of the venue has some interesting architectural features, but the rest of it is just blank walls. the old sci-trek takes up most of the space on that block, they could take that out and build a high rise that has street level storefronts, and use the upper levels to do any number of things.

Who are these "a lot of people?" How dare you...


There are a lot of neighborhoods that may have not-so-savory name-beginnings--however, that does not diminish the historical, cultural, and communal significance of a place. Dig deep and you will find a lot unsavory name-beginnings all over the world. Buckhead, anyone?

Let's not sanitize our history.


RepoHistory: Buttermilk Bottom

Frost Illustrated: Buttermilk Bottom is gone but not forgotten

Entering Buttermilk Bottom - CT4CT: Creative Tools for Critical Times

Atlanta History Center Album. Search

Spirit Of Atlanta - Buttermilk Bottom

Buttermilk Bottom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Buttermilk Bottom--historically significant, so Atlanta, so Southern.


Other helpful information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foggy_Bottom#History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckhead_(Atlanta)#History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabbage...ns_of_the_name
There are a few explanations as to how the neighborhood, originally known as Factory Town or Fulton Mill Village, received its name. One is that the mostly transplanted poor Appalachian residents (largely of Scots-Irish descent) who worked in the nearby Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill, would grow cabbages in the front yards of their shotgun houses, and one could distinctly smell the odor of cooking cabbage coming from the neighborhood. This term was used originally with derision by people outside the neighborhood, but it soon became a label of pride for the people who lived there.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

"buttermilk bottom" is not exactly a part of atlanta history a lot of people would like to commemorate. they called it that because the sewers stank like buttermilk because they were poorly designed in the valley.

No, conditions were not exactly great, yet an active and vibrant culture thrived there. If you ever get the chance take a look at some of the paintings of James Hiram Malone, one of the greatest chroniclers of life in Buttermilk Bottom. He was a great guy and could tell you about the good things as well as the bad.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by arjay57

No, conditions were not exactly great, yet an active and vibrant culture thrived there. If you ever get the chance take a look at some of the paintings of James Hiram Malone, one of the greatest chroniclers of life in Buttermilk Bottom. He was a great guy and could tell you about the good things as well as the bad.

This.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Seriously? Peachtree Center? There's a whole station named for it that's a whole lot closer than Peachtree Center:

Sorry everyone, mind-fart, I meant Civic Center Station.