Last week was significant for the fight to save ALL of the Landmark Crum & Forster Building.

• The Mayor and City Council President were informed that they will be sued for the September 24, 2012 Consent Order.

• The Atlanta Urban Design Commission voted to oppose the proposed de-designation legislation.

• The AUDC decided to send a letter to the Board of Zoning Adjustment urging it not to comply with the Consent Order.

This week it is important to STAND for Crum & Forster.

• Attendthe Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing on November 1, 2012, 12:00 pm, City Council Chambers, Atlanta City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue, to urge the Board not to comply with the Consent Order. Currently, the item is first on the agenda.

• And/or to send an email to the BZA urging it not to comply with the Consent Order. Your email should be send to Brandy Crawford (bcrawford@atlantaga.gov) at the Office of Planning. Ask that your email be circulated to the BZA members.

Please attend this meeting and/or send an email, STAND and make a difference!

On Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 4:00 pm, the Atlanta Urban Design commission will review and comment on the proposed legislation that would de-Landmark two-thirds of the Landmark Crum & Forster property.

JOIN THE APC IN REQUESTING THE AUDC OPPOSE THIS UNPRECEDENTED LEGISLATION TO DE-DESIGNATE A CITY OF ATLANTA LANDMARK. (View Proposted Legislation Here)

Please email the members of the AUDC and tell them to oppose the legislation.  Emails of opposition should be sent to the AUDC Staff : Doug Young, dyoung@atlantaga.gov, Leslie Canaan, lcanaan@atlantaga.gov, or Denise Potts, dpotts@atlantaga.gov. Please request that your email be circulated to the Commission Members.

The APC has also requested that the Commission look into the “settlement” between the City and the Georgia Tech Foundation. On Thursday, October 18, the AtlantaPreservationCentersubmitted a letter and supporting materials to the Atlanta Urban Design Commission requesting that the Commission “consider making inquiry into the procedures followed by the City Attorney’s Office” related to the consent order that was issued on September 24, 2012 regarding theLandmarkCrum & ForsterBuilding. This letter also asks that the Commission submit its comments to the Board of Zoning Adjustment on or before the BZA’s November 1 hearing.

The primary auction period for Re-Placing Atlanta concluded on Friday, October 19 after a wonderful Artists’ Talk. Nearly half of the works were sold and a lucky gentleman from Atlanta now owns Georgia Dome by “Panorama Ray.”

Through the generosity and agreement of the artists, the remaining works will continue to be for sale by auction until the close of the exhibition on Friday, November 9, 2012. This auction is an opportunity for folks to purchase lens-based work that is not available elsewhere while supporting the work of the APC.

Gallery hours for the exhibit are Monday – Friday from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Auction bids may be made by phone by calling Carolyn Stine McLaughlin at 404-688-3353 ext. 11 or email Carolyn@PreserveAtlanta.com.

 Works for Auction (UPDATED – MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2013)

(All images are resized and not to scale. For dimentions and materials please call or visit here.)

Marcia Vaitsman’s ” Landscape of Trust: Permanence/Impermanence” (detail) Expected Final Bid $1,800 – 2,200, Current Bid $750 AVAILABLE	Marcia Vaitsman's "Landscape of Trust #1," Expected Final Bid $1,800 - 2,200, Current Bid $750 AVAILABLE
Marcia Vaitsman’s “Landscape of Trust #5,” Expected Final Bid $1,800 – 2,200, Current Bid $750 AVAILABLE	David Knox’s “Palisades,” SOLD
Jody Fausett’s “Stack of Drapes,” Expected Final Bid $2,300-2,800, Current Bid $750 AVAILABLE	Jody Fausett’s “Goodrum,” SOLD
John Dean’s “Originals,” SOLD	Shelia Pree Bright’s “The Parcel: New Hope African Methodist Episcopal Church,” Expected Final Bid $3,000, Current Bid $750 AVAILABLE
Shela Pree Birght’s “The Parcel: Cemetery,” Expected Final Bid $3,000, Current Bid $750 AVAILABLE

James "Red" Moore

The Atlanta Preservation Center (APC) and Black Mecca of the South Tours will host Conversations with Negro League Baseball Legends on Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 4:00 pm at the LP Grant Mansion, 327 St. Paul Avenue SE, Atlanta, Georgia 30312.  Admission is free and children in attendance will receive a free copy of We are the Ship, The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson, courtesy of Disney Book Group. Historian Nasir Muhammad of Black Mecca of the South Tours will facilitate the conversation with former Negro League Baseball players James “Red” Moore and Lawrence “Pop” Williams.

Both players have direct ties to Georgia. Mr. Moore is an Atlanta native who played for the Atlanta Black Crackers, whose home field was the Ponce de Leon Ballpark. Mr. Williams is from La Grange and played for the Kansas City Monarchs.

This event brings together two preservation organizations and highlights the fleeting opportunities and necessity to speak first-hand with those who made history. This program is part of a new educational focus for the APC to bring attention and respect to the cultural significance of Atlanta’s historically African American resources. Mr. Mohammad’s Black Mecca of the South Tours focuses on lesser known but key historical locations and figures of Atlanta’s African American legacy.

Lawrence "Pop Williams

Event details here.

Bidding will close and the winning ticket will be drawn on Friday, October 19 at 8:00 pm.

This auction and raffle are an opportunity for folks to purchase lens-based work that is not available elsewhere while supporting work of the APC. This unique exhibit has created new conversations about the preservation of Atlanta’s historic built environment and it can be yours.

Raffle tickets are $20 and opening bids are set at $750. Ticket purchase and bidding may be done by phone, 404-688-3353 ext. 11 or in person. You do not need to be present to win.

Works for Auction (UPDATED – MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2013)

(All images are resized and not to scale. For dimentions and materials please call or visit here.)

Marcia Vaitsman's " Landscape of Trust: Permanence/Impermanence" (detail) Expected Final Bid $1,800 - 2,200, Current Bid $750	Marcia Vaitsman's "Landscape of Trust #1" Expected Final Bid $1,800 - 2,200, Current Bid $750
Marcia Vaitsman's "Landscape of Trust #5," Expected Final Bid $1,800 - 2,200, Current Bid $750 STILL AVAILABLE	David Knox's "Palisades," SOLD
Jody Fausett's "Stack of Drapes," Expected Final Bid $2,300-2,800, Current Bid $750 STILL AVAILABLE	Jody Fausett's "Goodrum," SOLD
John Dean's "Originals," SOLD	Shelia Pree Bright's "The Parcel: New Hope African Methodist Episcopal Church," Expected Final Bid $3,000, Current Bid $750 STILL AVAILABLE
Shela Pree Birght's "The Parcel: Cemetery," Expected Final Bid $3,000, Current Bid $750 STILL AVAILABLE

Take a moment today to review Atlanta Magazine’s Best of Atlanta Poll: http://www.atlantamagazine.com/bestofatlanta/survey/default.aspx.

Voting closes today, October 15, 2012.

Please add the LP Grant Mansion/Atlanta Preservation Center as the “Best Non-Touristy Place to Take an Out of Town Guest.”

The Atlanta Preservation Center’s Grant Park Walking Tour received a Best of Atlanta award in 2002. You can help the APC be recognized in 2012!

• The City Attorney’s office settled the Georgia Tech Foundation’s (GTF) lawsuit against the City of Atlanta and the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA). This was done via a “consent order” moments before the specially set trial was to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, September 24, 2012.

• The case was not tried by the Fulton County Superior Court. No evidence from the BZA hearing or other source was ever heard by the Court.

• No public record of approval by the City of Atlanta and the BZA has been located. It is the Atlanta Preservation Center’s (APC) opinion, that the “City of Atlanta” by Charter definition includes the City Council. The BZA is an independent, quasi-judicial board whose members are appointed by City Council, not the Mayor. APC has not found any evidence that either entity was aware this “settlement” was going to be made on its behalf.

• The agreement reached by the City Attorney’s office and GTF states that the BZA and the Office of Planning are required to issue the contested Special Administrative Permit (SAP). This action is now scheduled for the November 1, 2012 BZA hearing at 1:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

• Issuance of the previously denied SAP (which showed the Crum &Forster Building demolished) will in turn allow rapid application for and the likely issuance of a demolition permit. Unless there is some intervening action, the Crum & Forster Building is likely to be gone by mid-November at the latest.

• EVERY agency involved that has reviewed this matter has unanimously voted against GTF’s position: City Council unanimously approved the Landmark designation; Mayor Shirley Franklin signed that legislation; a claim by GTF for monetary damages, due to the Office of Planning’s decision not to issue the SAP, was unanimously denied by City Council; the BZA denied GTF’s appeal of the SAP denial after a lengthy public hearing; the AUDC unanimously denied GTF’s request for demolition after two full hearings and review of hundreds of pages of documents and evidence, including property appraisals and expert testimony. These decisions by City agencies and boards, made over the course of the past four years, were effectively overturned by the “settlement” that was signed by the City Attorney’s office without any court hearing on the merits.

• Who authorized this settlement if not City Council, the BZA and the AUDC? The APC is appalled that these past decisions of the City were reversed through “settlement” by the City Attorney’s office. We want to know who authorized that “settlement,” and why or if City Council, the BZA and the AUDC have agreed to this unprecedented perversion of City procedures.

• Did this “settlement” occur because of the influence and decisions of the Mayor’s office in the judicial process, in concert with the City Attorney’s office? If this occurred, its inappropriateness is highlighted by the fact that the Mayor was not a named party to the litigation — the parties were the “City of Atlanta” and the “BZA.” APC has confirmed that no settlement resolution or ordinance was approved by City Council and no public decision or public hearing by the BZA ever approved this “settlement.” To the contrary, both entities have denied GTF’s position during the past four years.

• Georgia Tech Foundation’s immense political influence should not be permitted to override City and judicial procedures. This is no longer about the Crum & Forster Building, or even historic preservation, regardless of what one may think about this Building or GTF’s proposed development plans. It is about the integrity of judicial appeal procedures from formal City legislative and quasi-judicial board decisions. Judicial appeal procedures protect all citizens, and “settling” this case without a hearing and contrary to the past four years of decision-making on this matter should be extremely troubling to anyone who cares about this City.

Countless citizens who participated in the AUDC, BZA and Zoning Review Board hearings should not be nullified by the Mayor’s office!

Please voice your opposition to the settlement by attending the November 1st BZA hearing and writing, emailing or calling your City Council member and the Board of Zoning Adjustment. Click here for a list of contacts and contact information.