Soapbox: Ye Olde Southlake Mall
July 29, 2008 at 1:23 pm by Tara-Lynne Pixley in Randomly Noted, SoapboxThis is a Soapbox submission by a guest blogger.
Is the southside ready for rural renewal?
By Hannah Palmer
When you drive south on I-75 from Atlanta, heading out of the city and into the sprawl, you’ll pass Southlake Mall on your right. This is “The Mall” of my childhood – destination for Christmas shopping, gift certificate spending, giant-cookie-cake pickup and Glamour Shot sessions. There is no lake at Southlake, but there is a patch of woods between the mall and the interstate.
Over the past few years, and many trips down 75, I’ve watched the progress of a strange development on this site. One by one, these huge historic-looking houses were wheeled in on flatbed trucks and reassembled in the swampy no-man’s land between the Sears parking lot and the expressway.
They seemed so forlorn and out of place. Who was doing this? I wondered. And what for? I stopped to take a photo in September of 2006.
So I just got back in town after 6 weeks in the mountains, and had to make the rounds of Stumptown: Anne & Bill’s Restaurant, the Library, and of course, I pulled over to check out the progress at “Olde Morrow.” It’s fancy!
I called the City of Morrow’s Economic Development office to get the lowdown. Lawanda told me it’s going to be a 17-acre development that will include taverns, retail, restaurants and a bed and breakfast. The central fountain and gardens will host receptions and outdoor events. Here’s the craziest part: they’re building the lake. As in “Southlake.” It’s about goddam time!
Those are, in fact, historic structures from all over the state… the kind of old estate homes that have been displaced and demolished due to suburban sprawl. So this is where they go to die. (I can’t help but think of the old Victorians they rolled out of Mountain View to make way for the expansion of the airport. Wonder if they’ll be wheeled back in someday for a mixed use development?)
If you pick up a historic house and move it from its historic context, is it still historic? Is history portable? Is it packageable and marketable? I guess we’ll find out Spring of 2009.
Send to a friend:
July 29th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
‘If you pick up a historic house and move it from its historic context, is it still historic?’
Well, according to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) criteria, it depends. If the house was moved from its original site 100 years ago, than it would still be considered historic. If it was moved a few yards, yet remained in its historic setting (the Decatur Railroad station would be a good example of this) then it would also still be eligible for the NRHP because it retains its integrity of setting and its association with the Georgia Railroad Line.
In the case of Southlake - the answer would be definite no. Historians and preservationists don’t necessarily look kindly on this type of fake historicism. This collection of houses is nothing more than an Epcot version of Georgia architectural history. Also, it appears that they have been considerably altered and remodeled after moving.
Finally, as a native of Clayton County (Jonesboro) - I want to go on the record and say that “Olde Morrow” or whatever it is, is completely idiotic.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Apparently these old homes are no longer suitable for residences by their owners and their carbon footprint has to be off the scale. I agree with the historians and preservationists, we should just destroy the old houses. After all, saving that Tutankhamun crap didn’t do any good since it was moved from the old boys pyramid and that Chinese Pottery Barn Army should have been left in the ground. Sheesh, what were people thinking?
July 29th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Hey DaleC - you are confusing buildings and structures with artifacts. Last I checked, people aren’t stealing buildings and structures. I suppose that was your attempt at sarcasm. Nice.
Also, my point was that the properties should be preserved in their original settings along with the local history that they are a part of. Sorry if it didn’t come across that way.
The question is why doesn’t Clayton County preserve it’s history instead of selling out every available piece of land to build strip malls, substandard tract housing and rows of billboards and then importing buildings and creating a fake “historic” village.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:56 am
buildings are just big artifacts
July 30th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Oh, ok.