Krog Street an ‘eyesore’?
July 20, 2007 at 5:24 pm by Mara Shalhoup in News
A story in yesterday’s AJC about the rebirth of DeKalb Avenue contained a rather insulting reference to what I consider to be one of the thoroughfare’s most colorful landmarks.
I’m talking about the Krog Street tunnel.
The story made much ado about how DeKalb Avenue was coming back to life, as evidenced by the influx of the young and affluent to shiny new condos:
It’s a stark contrast to the graffiti-covered train trestle at DeKalb Avenue and Krog Street, just a few hundred feet away. … Such sights once were common along the mostly industrial thoroughfare, which runs parallel to two rail lines. But as condos and apartments go up, slowly the graffiti and other eyesores are disappearing.
Personally, I love the rust and the grit, the imperfections and pure urban-ness of DeKalb Avenue — and the Krog Street tunnel in particular. When I was a teenager exploring the city, such a welcome reprieve from the soulless burbs, it was my favorite stretch of road. I’d hate to see it morph into a replica of the East Cobb homogeny from which I tried to escape.
I’m curious about what you readers think. Krog Street tunnel: eyesore or urban chic?
(Photo credit: Eric Adolff)
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July 21st, 2007 at 9:06 am
i really like the tunnel, it makes dekalb ave one of my favorite stretches of raod in Atlanta.
July 22nd, 2007 at 12:14 pm
The Krog Street Tunnel Dedication:
http://brianbannon.blogspot.com/2007/06/krog-street-1913.html
July 22nd, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I recently went on a road trip across the southern United States. I visited 15 different states in 3 weeks time, and one of my favorite stops was Atlanta. I mentioned to the person I was staying with that I was interested in seeing the non-touristy pats of town, and after visiting a few great restaurants and bars, he took me over to the Krog Street Tunnel.
The tunnel is one of the most amazing works of art I have ever seen. Denver (where I am from) has a pretty good graffiti scene, but the buff is relentless and pieces rarely stay up for longer than a few days. The Krog Street Tunnel was like a world of it’s own. I spent an hour or so exploring the area, and then returned the next day and spent close to 6 hours taking pictures of the tunnel and the surround Little Five Points area.
Now, I’m not a fan of sports. I don’t care what the local arenas look like. Same goes for the malls, upscale diners and other attractions designed to suck in the tourists and help to empty their pockets. Walking around and looking at the artwork that was done by local artists as well as graff writers from across the US and even other countries was, without a doubt, one of the coolest and most interesting stops on my journey. Not only did I spend the majority of my time in Atlanta in that area, but the majority of the money I spent was in the surrounding neighborhood.
I know some people look at graffiti as a blight on society and don’t believe that it’s a valid form of art. But if there hadn’t been such a thriving scene in Atlanta and Decatur, I never would have stayed as long as I did, and I certainly wouldn’t have spent as much money or met as many interesting people. Hate graff all you want, but keep in mind that it brought you MY tourist dollars. And if you search Flickr.com for Krog Street photos, I think you’ll realize that I’m not the only person who makes the journey just to see the art.
Keep the art scene there alive! It’s what turned Atlanta into one of my fondest roadtrip memories.
Southern (mostly ATL) graffiti photoset from my trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seetwist/sets/72157600044626643/
July 24th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Eyesore, please. I thought that most of the people around here think it’s amazing — and I, for one, am happy that it adds some character and interest in the (granted, already character-y and interesting) neighborhood. The tunnel that needs some help is the next one over, along Boulevard.
Human feces, decaying garbage, and people smoking crack in the stairwell at 3pm = eyesore that needs to be “cleaned up.” A relatively well-lit tunnel with outstanding (sometimes for humor content, sometimes for artistic ability) graffiti = landmark that should be continued.
November 26th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
I started the Krog Tunnel Mural project in 2001 with the assistance of the Cabbagetown Neighborhood Improvment Association, it remained a legal palce for artists to paint until CSX “reposessed” the property which had always been theirs. since then there has been an explosion of ugly tag graffiti in the area surrounding the tunnel and the general quality of the work done there has subsided due to its new found “illegality” kids will keep coming there because of its well known place in the atlanta art scene but w/o the ability to legally paint there they will continue to scribble their names on the property of yuppie condo owners and loft residence (gentrification is a mother fucker.)
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
hey i grew up in that neighborhood and we take pride in our local artists. the last thing we want is a bunch of rich folks from sandy springs buying condos down here. they are ruining the rustic urban appeal of that area, not to mention push the long time residents out with higher property taxes and home prices. the city doesnt allow us to paint anywhere else legally and they gave us a shitty dimly lit tunnel. dont take that “eyesore” away from us for the yuppies sake. i liked the ‘hood a lot more when there were crackheads everywhere. honestly…
March 10th, 2008 at 1:20 am
I stumbled into this tunnel by complete accident. I was scouting out a building site for a studio class and some simple graffiti here and there caught my eye, which I began hunting out for the next several hours until I rounded the corner and saw it. There is some great stuff there, more like murals than just sprayed words, but it has indeed been fouled up. It’s really sad to see something that someone put so much effort into get covered up by scribbling idiots.
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Two words - historic register, you don’t even have to own the property. Seriously, someone should investigate the possibility of protecting this site through the means of a special designation. Historic registry may not apply, but I bet there is a method to protect it. Also, these efforts can often be kept on a low profile to avoid opposition by residents and property owners. If the railroad objects, paint them as bad citizens by pointing out the enormous amount of criminal activity occuring daily along their rail lines that they ignore.