Future Places Project

Implementation

 Implementation

The Future Places Project was the City of Atlanta’s first comprehensive assessment of its historic preservation-related activities since the mid-1980s.  Started in April, 2019, the Future Places Project was an initiative by the Department of City Planning’s Office of Design to ensure that Atlanta retains its historic identity as the City moves forward.  Completed in June, 2020 and publicly debuted during the City of Atlanta’s first-ever Historic Preservation Week in October, 2020, the Future Places project produced the following deliverables:

  • Summary Report;

  • 5 In-depth Technical Reports: Parks and Recreation, Public Participation, Peer City Analysis, Windshield Survey, and Data and Mapping;

  • “A Call to Action” (Project recommendations by category);

  • Project website - www.atlfutureplaces.com;

  • Project video - 1.5 minutes in length; and

  • New branding and messaging.

“The Future Places Project has information and ideas that can improve the City’s ability to keep Atlanta for all of us, even as we continue to shape our City into the place we want it to be. Our history and our culture do not have to be lost in this effort. Our historic places and spaces are our future – they are what will continue to make Atlanta a truly great and unique city.”
— Tim Keane, Former Commissioner, Department of City Planning


Since its completion, the Office of Design has begun implementing the recommendations of the Future Places Project (which are collected in the “Call to Action” document):

  • Compiled all the historic preservation recommendations included in previously adopted planning documents (master plans, corridor studies, Livable Center Initiatives, neighborhood plans, etc.)

  • Applied for, in partnership with Historic Atlanta, Inc., for a grant to complete a Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ+ history and historic places/spaces in the City of Atlanta;

  • Completed the Landmark Building / Site (LBS) designation process for the following places / spaces that are examples of significant themes in the City’s history:

      • Atlanta Eagle Building (306 Ponce de Leon Avenue, NE) - LGBTQ History and Corridor Transformation;

      • Kodak Building (300 Ponce de Leon Avenue, NE) – Amateur Photography and Corridor Transformation;

      • Fuller-Freedom House (556 John Wesley Dobbs Avenue, NE) - African-American Achievement and the Civil Rights Movement;

      • 1331 Metropolitan Parkway-Masonic Building (1331 Metropolitan Parkway, SW) – Masonic Movement and African-American advocacy; and

      • Ormewood Avenue Bridge (Ormewood Avenue, SE) - Railroads and Transportation.

      • Smith Farm (130 West Paces Ferry Road) - Early Atlanta/Georgia History and Education.

  • Announced the creation of the first Atlanta Cemetery Network – an effort to bring together people who work with or are concerned about the City’s cemeteries; public and private, big and small, active and closed / abandoned.

  • Planning for the 44th Annual Awards of Excellence and the 5th Annual Community Design Awards in Spring 2022.

There are many more recommendations from the Future Places Project that need action by the Department of City Planning and our partners.    We will be adding implementation actions as they are launched and/or completed.  Please check back soon to find out more about what the Department of City Planning is doing to implement the Future Places Project!