Decatur Presbyterian Minister and Decatur High graduate A. Coile Estes makes a late call to preserve the Decatur High School Stadium in today’s AJC, attacking Decatur and Atlanta for poor preservation practices.

“Atlanta and Decatur do not have a good track record in preservation. Atlanta has lost many historic buildings that would be a wonderful contribution to our soulless downtown today. The Terminal Station and the Peachtree Arcade come to mind. We almost lost the Fox Theatre until a courageous group of people decided to fight for its preservation. It is a jewel of our city today.

Decatur lost half of its court square in the early 1970s; courageous citizens stood up to make sure the remaining square was preserved.

Today, the part of the square that makes Decatur successful is the side with the preserved historic buildings, not the side with the office tower. Unfortunately, it appears we haven’t learned from that mistake.”

Click here to read the entire letter.

As another Decatur High alum, David over at InDecatur also has a soft spot for the historic stadium.  He’s been calling for more transparency on this issue for a while and has even proposed alternatives that would have saved the old field.  But as David points out this morning, this call by Estes is too little, too late.  The last game has already been played and demolition is imminent.

Perhaps if those who supported preserving the old stadium made more noise earlier this year, like those on the other side of the Oakhurst Historic District issue, then maybe the stadium could have stood a chance.  (Where was the Decatur Preservation Alliance?)  But now it’s probably too late to stop the bulldozer, especially with local elections slated for tomorrow. (Notice that it was Baskett who motioned to prevent city staff from participating in the Oakhurst LHD process).

As you morn the loss of this unique historic landmark remember how you feel, so that the next time developers and local residents bad mouth local historic districts and “loss of property rights” you may entertain the possibility that sometimes conceding a few more restrictions on your property can save the landmarks that make your community unique.