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Historic preservation and adaptive reuse of buildings are important facets of community building and economic development - the two go hand-in-hand. Preserving and maintaining our historic structures is a gateway to our past and opens up new possibilities for our future. Preserving land as both green space and small farms is equally important to our business community, environment and quality of life. Many of our most treasured buildings and tourist attractions are wonderful examples of Athens' commitment to safeguard our historic structures and land and to find new and original purposes for unique venues in our community.
All one needs to do is take a tour of Athens to discover the many buildings that have been saved and refurbished to their original glory or fashioned for a new purpose. Gas stations, warehouses, bottling plants, banks, churches, and homes have taken on "new identities" as new owners envision and cultivate the exciting possibilities before them.
I invite you to take such a tour of Athens - almost every building in Five Points, Prince Avenue/Normaltown, and our downtown district is a fine example of adaptive reuse. Your tour might take you to The Bottleworks (former Coca-Cola Bottling Plant), Nuci's Space (Cartey Electric), Jittery Joe's (Five Points Automotive), Canopy Studios (Southern Mills), Chicopee Commons (East Athens Baptist Church), Mercury Art Southern Mills), Tasty World (Athens Refrigeration), the L.M. Leathers Building (now offices, studios, and retail spaces), Cine’ (Snow Tire) and a multitude of other great establishments in our community.
By taking the time to visit these inventive places, we can begin to appreciate the fruits of the labor of the many dreamers who reside among us - those people who take their creative juices far enough to fashion a dream into reality. And we can begin to consider and better understand how these dreams, and the success that has followed, are to the benefit of our community.
A May, 10, 2002 article in the New York Times, "36 Hours in Athens, Georgia," touted Athens as a great destination for weekend travelers. Of the restaurants, entertainment venues, and shopping destinations mentioned each is locally-owned and located in buildings that were saved and retooled. This example highlights one of the many reasons why preserving and utilizing our historic and contemporary structures is advantageous to our community - the unusual and the quirky, the local and memorable businesses, invite tourism dollars that boost our economy and give our residents something special, too.
There are a host of reasons to revitalize and breathe new life into our existing structures and land: the preservation of green space; prevention of the blight that can follow vacant buildings; diversifying our economic base; maintaining our memorable and interesting community flavor; and encouraging a creative and entrepreneurial spirit amongst our citizens. I will continue to support all such efforts to preserve both our historically significant structures through redevelopment efforts and our farmlands and open spaces.
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