Garlington Appointed Executive Director

GARLINGTON APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2014

Historic Macon Foundation, Inc. announced today that Ethiel Garlington has been recruited to serve as its next Executive Director. Garlington is expected to assume his duties on March 10, 2014.

“Historic Macon and Macon are both going to benefit immensely from Garlington’s leadership,” said outgoing Executive Director Josh Rogers, “I look forward to cooperating as I transition to my new position at NewTown Macon in April.”

Relocating from his native home in East Tennessee, Garlington has served as the Director of Preservation Field Services for Knox Heritage since 2008. During his tenure at Knox Heritage, Garlington founded the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance (ETPA) and provided preservation and economic development services to the Alliance’s sixteen county region. Among his most prominent accomplishments, Garlington structured a partnership among the Department of Energy, the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, the Tennessee Historical Commission and local officials to enable private developers to invest $4.5 million to save endangered properties from the Manhattan Project (the uranium processing plant in Oak Ridge) to be reused as an assisted living facility. “Garlington’s experience building partnerships, leveraging private resources and managing large adaptive reuse projects allows Historic Macon to continue from strength to strength,” said Board Chair Joy Dyer, endorsing his prior success.

Thanks to support from the Knight Fund for Macon and the Charles E. Roberts Fund, both held by the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, Historic Macon hired Hanbury Preservation Consulting to conduct an exhaustive national search to find Garlington. Garlington holds an undergraduate degree from Presbyterian College and a Master’s degree in historic preservation from the University of Georgia. He is also a certified Real Estate Development Finance Professional and a certified Travel Marketing Professional.

Garlington and his wife are excited about the move to Macon. “Historic Macon Foundation is one of the nation’s leading preservation organizations and it’s an honor to serve as the next Executive Director,” said Garlington, “Michelle and I couldn’t be more excited about moving back to Georgia and playing an integral role in the continued renaissance of Downtown Macon and the unparalleled architectural gems.”

Entering its fiftieth-anniversary year in 2014, the organization was recently recognized for leading the state in preservation projects. Chair-Elect and Search Committee Chair Heather Moore stated, “We needed the top talent in the historic preservation movement to keep our momentum, and we found it in Ethiel Garlington. I could not be more confident about the future of preservation in Macon.”

Tremont Temple Rehearing

TREMONT TEMPLE | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

The Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning Commission voted today to re-hear the demolition request for the historic Tremont Temple building at 860 Forsyth St. The hearing will be held on Monday, February 24, 2014 at 1:30pm on the 10th floor of 682 Cherry St and is open to the public.

Historic Macon Foundation remains opposed to the demolition. The only evidence presented to justify demolition is the poor condition of the building, which was caused by the applicant neglecting common and reasonable maintenance. Granting the demolition permit is bad policy, as it encourages other owners to neglect maintenance as a strategy for circumventing Macon's demolition procedures. Historic Macon's offer to purchase the church, and assume all liability for its stabilization and rehabilitation, is still a viable alternative to demolition for the congregation. The future of the building is very much in danger.

Tremont Temple

TREMONT TEMPLE | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2013

A developer has proposed demolition of the historic Tremont Temple Baptist Church building at 860 Forsyth St. Historic Macon is opposed to the demolition of the church, and intends to work together with the congregation to find a solution that will help sell the congregation sell the church and preserve the current building.

The building is listed as a contributing building to the National Register Macon Historic District, meaning the National Park Service has determined that the building is "worthy of preservation." The building is also within a Design Review District, requiring that the owner obtain a permit prior to demolition. Macon's Design Review Board deferred the request for demolition, and in a very unusual move the developer has decided to proceed to the Planning and Zoning Commission without a Design Review opinion. The meeting will be held on November 12, 2013 at 1:30pm on the 10th floor of the Willie C. Hill Annex 682 Cherry St. Historic Macon will attend this meeting on behalf of our Trustees and members and ask the Planning and Zoning Commissioners to send the demolition request back to the Design Review Board for an opinion before making a determination, which is standard procedure.

Historic Macon feels strongly that the building has a viable economic despite its current condition. We look forward to assembling a rehabilitation plan, developing financial pro formas and locating a preservation-minded buyer to rehabilitate this important historic building. Should the item appear on a Design Review Board agenda, we will notify you through a Preservation Alert and request that you attend to help us discourage demolition.

According to Macon's Black Heritage: The Untold Story, the cornerstone of the current building was laid in 1900 and the church erected at a cost of $25,000. The congregation figured importantly in civil rights history in Macon, according to Macon Black and White: An Unutterable Separation in the American Century. Motivated by a meeting of the Georgia Committee on Interracial Cooperation a white couple joined the church in 1947, causing a legal controversy as to whether that act was even legal. In 1963, Rev. Elisha B. Paschal (then-pastor of Tremont) furthered the local movement by volunteering to get arrested to integrate city buses.

Each and every historic building is irreplaceable, and the restrictions on this building have been in place for decades recognizing its unique history. We intend to use these restrictions that a generation of preservationists fought so hard to institute to prevent demolition.