4 recently restored midstate buildings awarded for excellence in rehabilitation

Efforts made to restore four historic Middle Georgia buildings to their former glory were recently recognized during the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 39th annual preservation awards ceremony.

Three Macon projects -- the Lamar Lofts on Cherry Street, the 551 Cherry Street Lofts and The Tattnall Square Center for the Arts at Mercer University -- along with Dublin’s Old First National Bank were among 28 awards for excellence in preservation at Friday’s ceremony in Marietta. The Middle Georgia buildings were recognized for “excellence in rehabilitation,” which is given to projects that make compatible use of a building through repair, alterations or additions while preserving its historical features, according to a news release from the statewide nonprofit preservation group.

“We were pretty excited about it,” said Carter Broun, owner of Lamar Lofts, a 63,000-square-foot, mixed-use project downtown that comprises 38 upscale apartments and two retail spaces. The building, built in the 1870s, was home to multiple retailers before it was abandoned for years. Then in October 2014, Millworks Holdings development company started on the $6.5 million restoration project, Broun said.

“There was a lot of rotting wood and structural damage,” Broun said of the lofts that opened last August. “There was not a whole lot inside the building other than kind of the open space. ... It was quite a big undertaking.”

The majority of the existing ceilings, exposed brick and floors are original to the building. Though there aren’t yet any businesses operating out of the Lamar, all but a couple of the apartments have tenants, he said.

NewTown Macon and the Historic Macon Foundation helped with the redevelopment, which Broun said “was definitely a team effort.”

A property across the street from the lofts also was recognized at the ceremony. A $500,000 revolving fund from the Peyton Anderson Foundation for downtown Macon helped the Historic Macon Foundation convert the building at 551 Cherry St. into four residential lofts and a commercial storefront in 2014. The lofts opened in March 2015 and all are now owner-owned, Historic Macon’s Executive Director Ethiel Garlington said.

The Tattnall Square Center for the Arts at Mercer University also was recognized at the ceremony. Built as a Presbyterian church in the 1890s, the arts center at College and Oglethorpe streets opened in January after years of abandonment. A $425,000 grant to Mercer in 2013 started the restoration of the building, which is now home to the university’s theater program, according to its website.

In Dublin, the seven-story bank building, affectionately called “the skyscraper” by locals, was illuminated for the first time in 30 years last September. The ceremonious lighting marked the end of a $3.8 million renovation to the First National Bank building, which was built in 1912 and was the largest building between Macon and Savannah.

The bank operated until it closed during the Great Depression. The building was used for different purposes until the 1980s, when the upper stories were closed and a pawn shop opened below, said Joshua Kite, executive director of the Dublin Downtown Development Authority. After the pawn shop went out of business, the windows of the towering building were boarded up and it was a pigeon’s paradise, Kite said.

“It used to be an eyesore, and now it’s a highlight,” Kite said. “From a community pride standpoint, from a tourism standpoint from an economic development standpoint, it was a home run project.”

Gainesville businessman Jim Walters, who also is chairman of the Georgia Ports Authority board, bought the building in 2014 for $250,000. Today, the building houses Georgia Military College’s Dublin campus, a private business on the top floor and a restaurant on the bottom floor.

“Sometimes it’s easy to overlook the rural spaces between Atlanta and Savannah, … but we’ve got a vibrant community here, and we came together to make this project work,” Kite said.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 7:37 PM with the headline "4 recently restored midstate buildings awarded for excellence in rehabilitation."