On to Decatur’s Strategic Plan goal #4!  Almost forgot to post today!

Goal 4: Protect and encourage the creative reuse of historic buildings, structures, and places

The preservation of Decatur’s historic buildings, structures, and places is essential to retaining its identity as the community grows and changes.

Significant progress has been made in the past decade in understanding how fortunate Decatur is with regard to such resources, but more remains to be done to encourage the preservation and appropriate reuse of historic structures.

Task 4A: Educate and encourage commercial property owners about historic preservation tax credits.

Task 4B: Educate about the Georgia Cities Foundation loan program and encourage its use.

Task 4C: Place all eligible buildings and districts on the National Register of Historic Places.

Task 4D: Increase public awareness of historic buildings and places.

Task 4E: Develop regulations regarding demolition of historic commercial structures that are outside the scope of local historic districts.

Due to its sheer size, it’s taking the city some time to get the recently completed Historic Resources Survey up on its website.  So until that time, I’m providing it here in full for your perusal. Just be aware, it’s a big ol’ PDF file.

Beyond the sections of wonk-ish methodology, the report also offers a lot of info that could be of interest to any city resident.  Like what?  Like parcel-level maps and summations of Decatur’s many existing and potential historic areas, (Is your home “historic”?  Check the maps!) along with a developmental history of Decatur and a list of the city’s “landmark buildings”.

The map above indicates all the districts in the city that – by the strict 50-year rule definition – could be deemed historic at the national or local level in bluish green.  Existing local and national historic districts are in red.  Decatur has so much historic residential, it’s actually easier to summarize the large non-historic areas:  the now urban-renewal showcase that was once “Beacon Hill”, the Decatur Cemetery, East Decatur Station and Decatur Heights.  See?

I’ve included full list of “landmark” buildings after the jump.  And because I’m such a nice guy, I’ve even provided direct links to visuals of every building on the list via Google Streetview.  (Make sure to check out 303 Fifth Ave.  I never knew that house even existed and it’s freakin’ awesome!)

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