Ugh.  The Pittsburgh Business Times – a sister paper of the Atlanta Business Chronicle – is reporting that Education Management Corp is closing 15 Art Institute branches, including the one in the City of Decatur.

According to the Times, enrollment is down at the Art Institutes in recent years…

EDMC has faced declining enrollment at each of its four systems of schools, with the Art Institutes seeing the largest decrease, dropping from 66,440 students in 2013 to 61,070 in 2014, according to the most recent publicly available data.

An article about the closing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette states that the Decatur branch current has 411 students enrolled.

Here’s the full list Institutes that will be closing according to the Pittsburg Times…

• The Art Institute of Atlanta — Decatur (a branch of The Art Institute of Atlanta)
• The Art Institute of Ohio — Cincinnati
• The Art Institute of Fort Worth (a campus of South University)
• The Art Institute Houston — North (a branch of the Art Institute of Houston)
• The Art Institute of Jacksonville (a branch of Miami International University of Art & Design)
• The Art Institutes International — Kansas City
• The Art Institute of Michigan — Troy
• The New England Institute of Art
• The Art Institute of New York City
• The Art Institute of Salt Lake City
• The Art Institute of California — Silicon Valley (a branch campus of Argosy University)
• The Illinois Institute of Art — Tinley Park
• The Art Institute of Washington — Dulles (a branch campus of The Art Institute of Atlanta)
• The Art Institute of Wisconsin
• The Art Institute of York – Pennsylvania

While walking the unusually quiet streets of town yesterday evening, my wife and I noticed a couple of semi-notable developments among Decatur’s establishments. Alone they probably don’t warrant a post, but together they are a blogging dynamo (kind of like Captain Planet).

• Renovations for the new Cakes and Ale at the old Viet Chateau are well underway at the corner of Ponce and Ponce Pl. There’s now a sign in the window with the restaurant’s logo and website. And if you peer inside, you’ll see some lovely new benches.
• The new satellite branch of the Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur has added an artist’s touch to the once staged office furniture setup that looked down over Ponce at the 1 West Court Square building. The new art gallery space already has red and tan walls with small, red lights dangling from the ceiling.
• Something is definitely going in where Tropical Smoothie once sat in the 335 West Ponce condo building, but I’ve yet to figure out what it is. A little help? Anyone?
• Another way-finding sign has appeared in front of the SunTrust building at Ponce and Commerce.

The DeKalb Neighbor has a few new interesting details regarding Decatur’s new tenet at 1 West Court House Square, Art Institute of Atlanta.

The satellite facility will include 20,000 square feet of classroom and administrative space, computer laboratories and a library.

Like its parent campus, the newest location will offer degrees in a variety of studies from graphic design, interior design, fashion and media, said director of admissions Jennifer Ramey.

“It’s the same accreditation, same curriculum and same system,” she said,

While nearly 30 students have enrolled thus far, Ms. Ramey said the campus is still accepting applications.

More classes are slated to begin in February and April and the school will offer eight new student starts per year, Mazur said.

This reconfirms that things will start out small.  Can’t wait for the street front gallery.

Another issue of Focus is in the mail! [Thanks InDecatur]

Lots of the development issues we’ve discussed here and over at the aforementioned InDecatur are covered. The obvious difference here is that the city is talking…so they’re a little less interesting than us opinionated bloggers, but they have all the inside dish! (that they’re willing to share)

Examples include…

315 W. Ponce de Leon Ave.

The city reports, like we did last month [InDecatur /Decatur Metro], that Decatur Court at 315 West Ponce has a new owner that plans to keep the existing office building and build residential and a parking deck on the existing parking lot. My original posting mentioned a potential issue with building height for the bungalows along Ponce Pl. Sure enough, a couple homes still have “No High Rise Next to R60” signs in their yards left over from the Old Decatur condo battle. Should be interesting….

Art Institute of Atlanta

The city has given us a little more detail on this project too, beyond the press releases that alerted us to it a couple weeks ago [InDecatur/Decatur Metro] Apparently the school will put a student art gallery on the first floor fronting Ponce, next to Quiznos, brightening up a piece of the most unfriendly pedestrian building in the city (I say that with no due respect). Also the blurb answers my question about a start date for classes, asked here. “Plans are to start small, and add classes over the next year.”

Mick’s

InDecatur pointed this one out just a few days ago and I piggy-backed. I’m still perplexed why I didn’t notice. The city cites “financial problems” that closed the entire chain. A commenter at InDecatur dishes juicer gossip, “I ran into one of their bartenders a few months back, who told me that the license was suspended because of nonpayment of back taxes.” The city goes on to assure the public that they’ll find the right establishment to fill this prime locale.

Trinity Triangle

OK, so here’s the one we haven’t seen any updates on. After months of delays, demolition is scheduled to start this month on the oh-so-sketchy Relax Inn, the old temporary city hall, and the mostly burnt down “My Sister’s Room”. Dairy Queen will need to be relocated for a time, but has been promised a spot in the new development. This blurb from Intown Atlanta gives a little more insight… “Both of these establishments will be demolished to make way for Decatur’s first downtown apartment development in more than a decade.” Anyone know who the developer is or what the plans look like?

In a press release announcing the newly hired campus director of the new Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur satellite campus, it states that the institute will “open its doors” on January 7th, 2008.

Does that mean all class and programs will be offered at that time?  I’d be surprised, due to the current state of the renovations of West Courthouse Square.

[Hattip: InDecatur]

If you’ve been wondering why there are workers tearing up the interior of One West Courthouse Square (the big glassy building just west of the courthouse/think Quizno’s), this press release should answer the question.

The Art Institute of Atlanta announces the opening of its first satellite location. The Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur opens its doors for classes on January 7 at One West Court Square in Decatur, GA.. Applications are now being accepted.

The announcement goes on to detail programs available at the new satellite location…

Initially, The Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur will offer bachelor’s degree programs in advertising, fashion & retail management, graphic design, interior design, media arts & animation, and Web design & interactive media. Associate degree programs will be offered in graphic design, and Web design & interactive media. Diplomas will be awarded in advertising design, digital design, residential interiors, and Web design.

The location’s website is already up and running. Check out all you need to know here.

I’d call this a great “get” for the city. I’m glad to see Decatur knows how to play off its defining characteristics and strengths. Unlike a certain mega-opolis to the west.