The Macon Hospital

THE MACON HOSPITAL

We typically think of hospitals as quintessentially modern places, but Macon has one hospital founded over one hundred years ago. The Macon Hospital, more commonly known as the Medical Center of Central Georgia or Medical Center, Navicent Health, was founded by a group of forward-thinking individuals in 1895.

In the late nineteenth century, people did not think of hospitals as places where one would find healing or cures. Many people actually detested hospitals as cesspools where society’s poorest members went to die. Going to the hospital to give birth, receive treatment, or have a surgical operation was a sign that you could not afford “proper” medical care at your home.

In 1890, several individuals, churches, and charities in Macon banded together to raise money for a local hospital. In contrast to the “common sense” of the era, these people saw hospitals as the future of medicine. This same period saw the increasing professionalization and specialization of physicians. By the 1890s, almost all physicians had been trained in medical schools and understood germ theory, much as we do today. They recognized that a dedicated hospital facility not only allowed them to treat patients with the latest equipment but would also reduce the risk of unnecessary infection.

It took five years, but the original Macon Hospital opened its doors on March 26, 1895 at what was originally addressed 818 Pine Street. The two-story brick building had most recently been the residence of James Calloway and had eight rooms. Between its opening and February 1, 1896, the Macon Hospital served 126 people and only lost eight patients. These statistics convinced many of the individuals who had been against opening the hospital.

The hospital soon grew busy enough to justify the construction of additional facilities around the original building. By 1908, the hospital had “modern” operating rooms, its own laundry facility, and segregated patient wards.

The original brick building no longer stands and the name has changed a couple times over the last fifty years, but the facility remains in operation today as the Medical Center, Navicent Health. It continues to serve residents of Macon and many surrounding areas and is the second largest hospital in Georgia.

-Kim Campbell, Preservation and Education Coordinator

Macon is Preservation

Macon is Preservation. Macon is preservation. MACON IS PRESERVATION.

Students from the McDuffie Center for the Strings play a tune in front of the newly renovated Beall House.

These three simple words tell the story of preservation in our community. Historic Macon is a leader nationally when it comes to community revitalization through preservation efforts. We’ve led the state the past two years in the number of historic tax credit applications submitted. Over the course of 30 years, we’ve rehabilitated over 150 properties in Macon’s historic districts and downtown. In the past 5 years alone we’ve restored 27 historic buildings and built 16 new homes. Building by building, neighborhood by neighborhood, Macon is being transformed and our historic structures are finding new uses.

These statistics are not just the work of Historic Macon, they’re backed by an entire community. That’s why our work is so successful, because Macon is preservation. You may be a preservationist and not even know it. That’s why Historic Macon decided to launch an advocacy campaign to show the diversity of preservation efforts in Macon and to show that everyone can be involved.

After the demolition of Tremont Temple and the Douglass House in 2014, Macon experienced a huge loss. These preservation defeats exposed the flaws in our local zoning and design codes. Further, these two cases showed buildings can be torn down despite the community fighting for their preservation.

The Macon is Preservation campaign is an opportunity for Historic Macon to show preservation efforts in a positive light. Preservation groups are often seen as reactionary rather than proactive when it comes to advocating for historic properties. With help from the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, Big Hair Productions, and Maryann Bates Photography, Historic Macon staff came up with the idea to show the diversity of preservation efforts that happen every single day in our community by creating a 30-second video and series of photographs.

Tabitha Walker and Stephanie Shadden from Big Hair Productions and Maryann Bates from Maryann Photography take a break during a busy day of shooting.

Macon is fortunate to have a wide array of incredible historic structures, from all periods and styles. This is something for Maconites to be proud of! As a staff, we started to think about those buildings that we pass everyday on the way to work, or the dog park, or to a ballgame or those buildings where we go to learn or grab a bite to eat. Then we began to think about the people and the stories behind those buildings. What we came up with was a list much too long to cover in a 30 second video but we think this PSA is a great start to rethinking what preservation looks like.

Preservation is all around us and this video tells that story. You’re participating in it everyday when you go to H&H, recently named the most iconic restaurant in Georgia. Seeing the Allman Brothers and Southern rock posters while enjoying Mama Louise’s famous fried chicken is an act of preservation in and of itself, you’re keeping history alive. When you drop your kids off at Alex II, Georgia’s first magnet school, you’re furthering the vision of Elam Alexander. Preservation isn’t just about buildings. It’s saving the structures that tell the story of our community and continuing to use them.

The Macon is Preservation campaign is more than this 30 second video that will premiere during our annual meeting on Tuesday, May 5. Check our Facebook page regularly to see #maconispreservation in action.

The H & H crew serves up some smiles for the Macon is Preservation campaign.

468 Second Street: Macon’s First Piggly Wiggly

Researched and Written by Lauren Mauldin

Before shopping carts and refrigerated cases became the norm in grocery stores, Piggly Wiggly completely revolutionized grocery shopping in 1916 with the first Piggly Wiggly store in Memphis, Tennessee. Clarence Saunders, owner of Piggly Wiggly, introduced the concept of “self-service,” allowing customers to select their own groceries instead of depending on a local grocer to collect a customer’s groceries. In fact, Piggly Wiggly introduced many conveniences we associate with grocery shopping today:

• Shopping Carts

• Check out counters

• Individually priced items on open shelves

• Full range of nationally advertised brands

• Refrigerated cases for produce

Macon’s first Piggly Wiggly, and undoubtedly the earliest modern “self-service” grocery store in the city, opened at 460 Second Street on November 9, 1918.* This was also the second Piggly Wiggly to open in Georgia, with Columbus opening the first store in October 1918. The Macon franchise was so popular that it broke all Piggly Wiggly sales records by being the first store to have $10,000 in weekly sales. Apparently, Piggly Wiggly and its “self-service” shopping were so popular with Macon residents that a second Piggly Wiggly opened to “prevent crowding.” Piggly Wiggly remained at 460 Second Street until 1934 when it relocated to have more space. Despite its unassuming facade now, 468 Second Street is the site of the first Macon Piggly Wiggly and the introduction of modern grocery shopping in Macon.

*460 Second Street later changed to its current address 468 Second Street.

-Lauren Mauldin, Intern

Hay House's Sister Building Turned Speakeasy

Everyone loves the Hay House. It is one of Macon’s most valued landmarks. It reminds us of better times Macon has seen and gives us hope for a bigger and brighter future. What if I told you that the Hay House has a sister building?

You may have noticed the Brownstone building that sits on 566 Mulberry between 2nd and 3rd Streets in downtown Macon. The Brownstone building was designed by the same New York architect who designed the Hay House. Italian artisans were brought over to the states to construct the building in 1858 for Dr. George Emerson.

I cannot help but to think of all this building has seen. Built in 1858, it has witnessed everything from the Civil War to the Roaring 20’s and Prohibition to the Great Depression to the Civil Rights Movement.

What better way to showcase this building than to have our very own Macon Pops Jazz Quartet in this speakeasy style venue? Be sure to bring your dancing shoes as Steve Moretti and his gang produce nothing less than world class music. Steve and I envisioned a speakeasy night with his musicians and my pop up shows since we conceptualized the idea this summer. We never expected this building to be as cool as it is. Macon never ceases to amaze me with all its hidden gems.

The Quartet will play for 80 minutes and will feature:

Matt Catingub - piano & vocals

Steve Moretti – drums

Billy Thornton – bass

Joe Gransden - trumpet & vocals.

Tickets are $20 at Just Tap’d and Taste and See or at CorncerConcerts.com. Show starts at 7:30 on February 27th. Come out and explore what Macon has to offer and let’s take one more step towards Macon’s bright future.

-Andrew Eck, Corner Concerts

Vacant building turned music venue by Corner Concerts

Our friends at Corner Concerts are always looking for interesting and unexpected places to turn into live music venues. This month's concert will be in one of Macon's vacant buildings -the former Shriners Temple on Poplar Street, just across the street from City Hall. Andrew Eck shares with us what inspired the choice of the Shriner Temple as the concert setting.

We, as Maconites, are told that Macon has great building stock, yet we only see the same few buildings in our weekly routine. Many of the ‘great’ buildings of Macon’s history are vacant, condemned or out of sight. Overgrown with bushes or boarded up, these buildings are easy to overlook. And without a legitimate reason to go into these buildings or without a vision for their potential, that’s all we see and think of them as – boarded-up buildings on our way to work.

Macon is a city of history. We relive it and create it in the same stroke. And our buildings tell the best stories of the past. I live two doors down from where Greg Allman and Cher lived when they were married and across from the original site of the first women’s college in the world. We’ve seen that if we don’t use these brick-and-mortar story tellers, we lose them –at the price of our history and heritage.

Well here is my shameless plug, Corner Concerts is hosting its next concert in the Shriner Temple on 745 Poplar St. It’s that weird Egyptian building that sits across from City Hall next to Rosa Parks. We’ve all wondered what exactly used to be there. A bank? Secret Society?  Built in 1929, the Shriner Temple was the largest auditorium outside of Atlanta at the time. I'm sure you've noticed the lotus flowers and other Egyptian symbols on the building. The story goes that in the 1920s, there was so much press about the ‘Tomb of Tutankhamen’ that the Shriners used hieroglyphs from the tomb as the model for the paintings on the walls.

This unique building will host Maconites, new and old, for one night when Corner Concerts sets up shop on December 6 at 7:30 with New Madrid, White Violet and 100 Watt Horse playing. Tickets are available at CornerConcerts.com for $10. Come out and explore one of those vacant buildings you've always noticed and never entered –with a beer in hand.

-Andrew Eck, Corner Concerts

The next big step for Beall's Hill

Knight Foundation supports the Historic Macon Foundation to expand opportunities in Macon, while attracting and retaining talent. Macon is one of 26 Knight communities.

We’re proud to be a part of a progressive community that’s leading the nation in innovative public-private partnerships. Historic Macon Foundation and Knight Foundation have created a unique funding tool that will serve as a national model for neighborhood revitalization. Knight Foundation’s $3 million investment is a combination of grant and loan funds. This model works for Macon because we’re building on a proven track record of success.

Macon’s historic architecture spans from the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds to antebellum mansions to the homes of legends of Southern rock and blues. But to the people of Macon, historic preservation is more than saving the grand antebellum structures of the wealthy; it’s a way to put homes with good bones back to use while enhancing the walkability and livability of our neighborhoods.

One of Macon’s oldest neighborhoods, Beall’s Hill, has been a model for community revitalization efforts. Historic Macon has been working in the neighborhood since 2007 when it joined with the city of Macon, Macon Housing Authority, Mercer University and Knight Foundation. Knight awarded Historic Macon almost $800,000, which enabled the completion of 22 house rehabilitations over the course of five years, more than double the number promised in the original grant application.

But there’s still work to be done. The recent $3 million investment from Knight Foundation will allow us to finish our work in Beall’s Hill, ensuring its long-term viability. Beall’s Hill is the most racially and economically diverse neighborhood in the region, which makes the neighborhood attractive to new residents. Plus, its close proximity to Mercer University and Navicent Health, the second-largest hospital in the state, makes it desirable for attracting Mercer professors and hospital staffers. Neighbors walk their children to Alexander II, Georgia’s first magnet school, and meet for yoga in Tattnall Square Park.  Plus, the neighborhood is an easy walk or bike trip to Macon’s burgeoning downtown and the thriving College Hill Corridor.

At Historic Macon our work will ramp up considerably in the next year. Between building and rehabilitating 15 to 18 houses a year; making façade and energy efficiency loans; and working with Mercer to fund the down payment assistance program, we’ll be fulfilling our mission to revitalize our community by preserving architecture and sharing history.  It may sound overwhelming, but we are honored and humbled to be a part of the next phase—and the final phase!—to revitalize Beall’s Hill.

Follow our progress at www.historicmacon.org, on Facebook and on Twitter @historicmacon and #believeinbeallshill.

Ethiel Garlington is executive director of the Historic Macon Foundation and Emily Hopkins is the special events and marketing coordinator.

Take Action for the Douglass House

Act now to save the Douglass House

The Planning and Zoning Commission will meet on Monday, August 11.  At this meeting, the commissioners will discuss Lou Patel and Jim Rollins' application for a permit to demolish the historic Douglass House.  Based on the 4-point guidelines, the same guidelines the Design Review Board used to deny the application for demolition in July, Patel and Rollins do not have just cause for demolishing the Douglass House. If the Planning and Zoning Commission approves the permit for demolition, not only will this mean the loss of another important piece of Macon history, it will also set a dangerous precedent for Macon's historic district.

Take action now! Contact the Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning Commissioners to let them know you do not support the demolition of the Douglass House. Express your concern about losing another piece of Macon's African American history and how this could endanger other historic structures in the future.

Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning Commissioners

Jeane Easom

Sarah Gerwig- Chair

Kumal Azar

Bryan Scott

Ashok Patel

Community Supports Saving the Douglass House

Restoring Douglass Mansion: A Cultural Priority for this Community

In response to Mr. Al Tillman; whether the P&Z Review Board is predictable or superfluous; they made the right recommendation to prohibit demolition of the Douglass Mansion.  Someone needs to respect the rules, and the value of heritage.

In a city-county like Macon-Bibb County, over 60% black; African American heritage preservation and opportunity has a critical need.  The education, values, and self-respect of such a substantial segment of the population has a huge impact on the success or failure of the entire community.

Macon-Bibb County is at a crossroads and we need to do some things differently.  The traditional neglect of African American heritage preservation and education by most local leaders is undermining the future, the hope of our community.

The valuable, successful achievements of black luminaries throughout Macon’s history need to be taught and exemplified to the generations of today and tomorrow.  The youth of all races and cultures need to be nurtured on the great heritage and knowledge of all the ancestors on whose shoulders they stand.

This is why it was a crime to allow Tremont Temple Church to be demolished; regardless of the current congregation’s limitations and values.  It would be a greater crime for local leaders of all stripes to allow the Douglass Mansion too to be demolished now for a donut shop to profit.  It would be a curse for this community to be recorded having such a poverty of the soul in 2014.

Many buildings have even been condemned, yet beautifully renovated.  We are talking about a resurrection of purpose and service in this house with a commitment from Mercer University, Macon’s top educational institution, to play the leading role of partnership.  We need to rally the community and the nation to help achieve it.

There is no excuse for allowing this developer to harm this historic house in any way.     It should be saved to anchor a higher purpose of unity and inspiration for Macon-Bibb County.  Local leaders must deliver on being better custodians of the heritage of the people.  Some are still blind and bound with diseases of the spirit.  But for those who can see the imminent need for change, hope, honor, and gratitude for what we have been given; it is time to act, to save, to produce, and to renew life in a suffering city.

-George Fadil Muhammad

Come to a press conference on Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 11a.m. to show your support of saving the Douglass House from demolition. The press conference will be held in front of the Douglass House, located at 873 Pine Street.

Douglass House in Danger of Demolition

Historic Macon's stance on the proposed demolition of the Douglass House

In the wake of Tremont Temple's demolition, HMF and our partners have been working tirelessly to preserve the Charles H. Douglass House. Built in 1904 by one of Macon's most prominent African Americans, the Douglass House is a contributing building in the Macon Historic District. With that designation the house is afforded certain protections under our local planning and zoning ordinances.

In March, HMF presented a purchase option for the house for $225,000 that would have expired at the end of June. Our goal was to secure the property so we could aggressively work to find a buyer who would reuse the historic house. Unfortunately our offer was rejected and the house was put under contract with Lou Patel, the same developer who purchased and demolished Tremont Temple. In May, Patel purchased the House for $200,000. He offered to work with HMF and Representative James Beverly to relocate the house and contribute $20,000-30,000 towards the move that he would have spent demolishing the house. Moving historic buildings is not the preferred preservation solution since often times buildings lose their National Register status, thus eliminating the benefits of historic tax credits. Not to mention, the high cost of moving the building; temporarily moving utility lines; and the cost of a new lot and site work. That being said, HMF publicly supported relocating the house to preserve it.

After vetting several lots for the house, it was evident that moving the house was going to take more time and money than anyone could have expected. In June when the cost and logistics of the move were still being studied, Patel and Rollins moved ahead with a demolition permit application. The application was unanimously denied at July's Design Review Board meeting since the application does not meet the four-point test as prescribed in the guidelines. Letters from Mercer University, NewTown Macon, Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and others were submitted to Planning and Zoning staff requesting that the demolition application be denied.

Over the weekend, Mayor Reichert conveyed to Rollins and Patel Mercer University's offer to purchase the Douglass House for the purchase price up to $200,000 contingent only on an inspection proving the structure was in a condition Mercer was comfortable in accepting to restore. Mercer's offer included a 30-day inspection period and would keep the house in place. We believe, and the deed records support, that $200,000 is the same amount that Patel paid for the property.

On Monday, Patel and Rollins asked Planning and Zoning to defer their demolition application to the August 11 meeting to allow more time to consider the offer.

We believe that a mutually beneficial solution has been presented to the developer that preserves the house and allows them to build their approved Dunkin Donuts plan on the Tremont Temple site. If they decline the offer and insist that Planning and Zoning hear their demo application, there's a strong chance they'll be denied and their development will continue being delayed.

-Ethiel Garlington

HMF Executive Director

Tremont Temple - A Letter from HMF

TREMONT TEMPLE - A LETTER FROM HMF | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Historic Macon Foundation's only motivation in working to save Tremont Temple from demolition is to fulfill our mission "to revitalize our community by preserving architecture and sharing history." Today, that means employing comprehensive strategies that save entire neighborhoods for the future. Preservation is especially important in Macon, because our historic architecture is one of our most distinctive assets. If we don't save our old buildings what have we got going for us?

Many of the criticisms leveled at Historic Macon through this process are simply inaccurate and smack of preservation strategies from forty years ago. We are very selective about buildings we try to save. Buildings such as Tremont Temple are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, an objective list of the "country's places worthy of preservation" as judged by the National Park Service. Tremont Temple is not just another "old" building; it is special.

Moreover, Historic Macon has offered repeatedly and in writing through a formal contract to purchase Tremont Temple at the same price as the developer who proposes demolition. We are in the habit of finding solutions where everyone wins, and our offer to purchase should be just that. The congregation would receive the same amount of money and receive it sooner by selling for preservation.

Buying this building is an exceptional commitment for us. There is no way we can buy and rehabilitate every important building. We rely on design review laws to protect these buildings so that they are only sold to private developers for preservation and reuse. There are an unfortunate number of empty lots and non-historic buildings downtown where new construction like Dunkin Donuts would be welcome. Why send Tremont to the dump?

Historic Macon is an expert in rehabilitation projects of this type. We have managed rehabilitation and new construction contracts that total over $20 million through 160 projects. After a thorough review by our staff and construction professionals we are certain that we have the financial ability, proven experience and determined will to complete this project.

The proposed demolition doesn't really make sense on any level. Historic Macon's plans to rehabilitate the existing building would add more businesses, create more jobs, pay more property taxes and better utilize the site than a single Dunkin Donuts. In fact, the economic impact of rehabilitating the current building would have six times the economic impact as demolition. The fact that we get to keep a beautiful old building where we can tell visitors about Macon's civil rights movement is a bonus.

Our entire community has a lot of work to do to overcome our divisive racial history. Historic Macon must do more to engage people of color, and build credibility that our concerns to preserve diverse places are genuine. What better place to start than saving the place where Macon's bus boycotts were organized? It does not end there, and it will take us years to integrate the preservation movement across all the lines that divide us.

Looking back on this process, none of it makes much sense. Why in the world would a developer take a contract on a building listed on the National Register without investigating the demolition laws? Then when demolition is denied, why wouldn't the congregation sell it for preservation? A vendetta to tear the building down seems a lot stranger than a non-profit advocating to keep it, and willing to put up their own money to do it.

Sincerely,

Josh Rogers

Executive Director

TREMONT TEMPLE - BULLET POINTS

1) Current Status- The Macon Bibb Planning and Zoning Commission has agreed to rehear the Tremont Temple Baptist Church's request for a permit to demolish their former sanctuary at 860 Forsyth St. The public hearing will be held on Monday, February 24, 2014 at 1:30pm on the 10th floor at 682 Cherry St.

2) Demolition- Tremont has not been singled out for special treatment. Demolition has been subject to these same procedures in Macon for nearly forty years. Tremont deserves special attention from Historic Macon because it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, an objective list of the "country's places worthy of preservation" as judged by the National Park Service. Downtown is full of empty lots and unused non-historic buildings, unfortunately, and the developer could have secured any number of these locations for a Dunkin Donuts without a demolition hearing.

3) Condition- The developers who hope to buy the church have two structural engineering reports that exaggerate the condition of the building. The fact is that most of the structure cannot be seen, and these engineers state that they have not examined the building in full. Therefore, these engineers assume that a) everything they cannot see is failing, and b) that the building would need to be brought up to modern code. The quote from Piedmont Construction merely quotes the engineer's scope of work.

4)Cost- Historic Macon Foundation has completed over $20 million in complex rehabilitation projects and is an expert on the acquisition, design, construction, reuse and sale or lease of historic properties. The building could be stabilized, obtain construction permits, meet local inspection standards, be completely rehabilitated, and be put into service into an economically viable fashion.

5) Purchase- We are so confident that the building can be rehabilitated that we offered to purchase the building for the same amount as the developer who would demolish it. The congregation had a choice to sell the building to Historic Macon when it was out of contract, or renew the contract with the developer. If they had accepted our offer, they would already have the money from the sale, and Historic Macon would be at work on the building right now. The congregation will benefit financially to the same degree whether the building is demolished or not. We cannot purchase every endangered historic building, but if that is the only way to save Tremont we are willing to do it.

6) Race­- Unquestionably, the preservation movement in Macon has not done enough to engage people of color. If there is a clear call to action for Historic Macon Foundation, it is that we will not have credibility until we develop better diversity programs and increase our membership among people of color, especially African Americans. Still, this building is a major blow to the built heritage of our community, and the lessons of the Civil Rights movement belong to us all, black and white.

7) Proposed Reuse- A Dunkin Donuts on the site will be mostly surface parking, and a small building. It will produce fewer jobs, less property and sales tax revenue and have less square footage than reuse of the building as a food court. By every measure of public benefit, keeping the building is the better choice and still a free-market solution.

8) Quality- The current building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The proposed Dunkin Donuts is not of a quality to ever be considered for listing even in one hundred years. Not that it will be built to last that long...

9) Results- At any time, the Macon-Bibb Buillding Development Services Department could order the building demolished because the most-recent engineering report states the building is in danger of "imminent" collapse. Or the Planning and Zoning Commission could grant or deny the demolition permit. Either way, the congregation has made it clear they will not sell to Historic Macon and no alternate buyer has come forward.

10) Lessons- It is imperative that we develop better partnerships. Preservation cannot afford to continue to be perceived or act as a racially monolithic organization. As a community, we also have to find tools to prevent buildings from slipping into such a state of disrepair that demolition is necessary. Allowing owners to defer maintenance blights the community, reduces surrounding property values, and destroys our most distinctive asset: our historic architecture.