Fading five— four down, one to go

Sometimes it takes a disaster to sound the alarm. That alarm initially rang out in late 2013 when it was announced that Tremont Temple, built in 1897, would give way to a Dunkin’ Donuts. There would be a fight, but it was too little too late as the demolition began in early 2014. Next came the Douglass House and another fight ensued, but the cause was eventually lost when the cost of moving the home topped $600,000. The house had sat vacant for more than 40 years. The wake up call for preservation groups was complete.

By August 2015 Historic Macon put out its first Fading Five list: Alexander IV Elementary School building, the Schofield Iron Works Complex, the Cotton Avenue District, the Bonnybrae-Bedgood House and the Ware House. By December, three of the properties had been purchased and saved. In March 2016, Alexander IV was sold to the Macon-Bibb County Land Bank Authority. The remaining of the five is the Cotton Avenue District that runs from Second and Mulberry streets to College Street. The Bibb County Commission is pushing the Planning and Zoning Commission to form the Cotton Avenue Historic District and passed a resolution saying so.

After the December announcement, Stephen Reichert, a brother of Mayor Robert Reichert said, “If we’d put Tremont Temple, and of course the (Douglass House) next door, if they had gotten the attention and the focus that these properties have, we might have a different story.”

Cotton Avenue was the hub of black entrepreneurs in the city, but few know the street’s history or the famous voices that spoke at Tremont Temple and its across-the-street neighbor Steward Chapel AME. What would the historic designation do? It could keep the historic nature of the street intact and prevent a building such as Steward Chapel meeting the same fate as Tremont Temple.

Maintaining our historic infrastructure isn’t a game, and because the alarm has been sounded the community needs to take the necessary steps to protect the structures that carry that history. Once they are gone, they’re gone. The Historic Macon Foundation is seeking nominations from the public for its 2016 Fading Five list. The deadline for submissions is July 1.

This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Fading five— four down, one to go."