Images: Gorgeous downtown ATL building makes 'Places in Peril' list

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation today released the 20th edition of its closely watched 10 Places in Peril list, and two of those places are in metro Atlanta this year.

One of them—an architecturally significant, nearly century-old former substation building in the shadow of downtown skyscrapers—is facing threats of demolition for surface parking. 

Situated just east of revitalized Hurt Park, the 148 Edgewood Ave. structure was built in 1926 as a Georgia Railway and Power Company substation and “played a crucial role in powering downtown Atlanta,” according to the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s recap. 

It’s part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Register District, which the statewide preservation organization also considers threatened. 

The Edgewood Avenue building was purchased in 1966 by Georgia State University, which has recently proposed demolishing it to clear space for a surface parking lot. A demolition permit has been signed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, according to the Places in Peril list. 

Downtown residents and Atlanta preservationists spoke out in opposition to demolition plans last fall, circulation a petition that now has more than 1,000 signatures. 

Though the building is a contributing structure in the historic district, GSU and the state’s Board of Regents have sovereign immunity “over the City of Atlanta’s zoning ordinances that would otherwise protect the building from needless demolition,” reads the petition. (Find more images of 148 Edgewood Ave. in the gallery above.)

For 20 years, the Places in Peril shortlist has aimed to spotlight significant cultural, historic, and archaeological resources across Georgia threatened by neglect, demolition, bad public policy, and inappropriate development.  

Also making the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s cut this year is a unique museum facility dedicated to transportation in Gwinnett County. 

Duluth’s Southeastern Railway Museum, spread across 35 acres, includes a “remarkable collection of rolling stock” that showcases Georgia history (see: the retired MARTA train cars on site) and helps tell the story of transportation in America. Notable railcars in the museum’s collection include the 1911 Pullman Superb (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Marco Polo. 

“The museum thrives on a small staff and a team of dedicated volunteers,” noted preservation officials. “However, with over 90 pieces of historic rolling stock, the museum is limited in its capacity to restore and care for the whole collection.”

The eight other sites on the 2025 Places in Peril list are:

Collier-Toomer House in Savannah (Chatham County); Crossroads Rosenwald School in Dixie (Brooks County); Gaissert Homeplace in Williamson (Spalding County); Miami Valley Peach Packing Barn in Fort Valley (Peach County); Historic Nicholsonboro Baptist Church in Savannah (Chatham County); Powell Opera House in Blakely (Early County); Historic Rock House in Thomson (McDuffie County); and Buckhead Town Hall and Jail in the town of Buckhead (Morgan County).

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