The City of Atlanta is the recipient of a Federal Historic Preservation Grant to develop a Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ historic resources and preservation. The nearly $25,000 award represents the collective efforts of several City partners: Historic Atlanta, Inc., the Midtown Neighbors Association, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Mailchimp, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and individual donors. Led by the Department of City Planning, the Historic Context Statement of Atlanta’s LGBTQ sites will focus on the LGBTQ rights movements since the mid-1900’s including, but not limited to the following topics: The founding of gay and lesbian rights organizations; the development of LGBTQ-friendly nodes throughout the city; the LGBTQ Rights Movement since the 1970s; LGBTQ Arts & Culture; and the AIDS epidemic.
Buried in last week’s Atlanta City Council agenda was an item to apply for a $1 million federal grant to fund an implementation study for The Stitch. First proposed in 2016, The Stitch envisions capping the Downtown Connector by constructing a ¾-mile platform over I-75/85, extending from the Civic Center MARTA station at West Peachtree Street to Piedmont Avenue. On top of the platform, which would create around 14 acres of new buildable space, would be a five acre park, homes, office buildings, hotels and more. The funding would come from the recently announced $1 billion Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The city will work with the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District and Central Atlanta Progress to complete the application. There’s also a movement to create the Midtown Connector, which would cap the interstate from North Avenue to 10th Street.
The Fulton County Library System recently celebrated the completion of four newly renovated libraries with ribbon cutting ceremonies at Hapeville Library, Ocee Library, Northeast/Spruill Oaks Library and the East Atlanta Library. Libraries are now open Mondays and Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. and Wednesdays – Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Check the weekly newsletter and online schedule at fulcolibrary.org for weekly activities taking place throughout the summer in celebration of summer reading.
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