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Union Point
School Receives Statewide Award
from Georgia
Trust for Historic Preservation
Historic 1920s
Schoolhouse Suffered Severe Damage Over Time
ATLANTA, April
22, 2006 – The Union Point School received an
award for
Excellence in Rehabilitation from The Georgia
Trust for Historic Preservation at its Annual
Meeting April 22 in Athens, Ga.
Built in 1926, the Union Point School is a
Colonial Revival, four-room brick building. The
school was vacated by the 1950s and was later used
for audio-visual equipment storage by the Union
Point Board of Education. The building suffered
from deterioration due to boarded-up windows and
the removal of all electrical and plumbing
systems.
“This rehabilitation has once again made the Union
Point School a valuable asset to the community,”
said Greg Paxton, president and CEO of The Georgia
Trust.
Believing that the historic schoolhouse should be
preserved, the City of Union Point spent a year
negotiating with the board to purchase the
property and rehabilitate it. While funding was an
issue, grants from the Georgia Department of
Community Affairs’ Local Development Fund and
Georgia’s Historic Preservation Division of the
Department of Natural Resources helped to make the
project feasible.
Many of the school’s 34 windows had been damaged
and four had been removed in the building’s
conversion to storage space. Exterior doors were
either missing or severely damaged, and the
school’s entrances did not meet ADA requirements.
The historic building also required full
electrical and mechanical systems as well as
functional restrooms.
Through painstaking work, the city successfully
completed the preservation project. Today, the
Union Point School serves as a multi-use community
center. The historic building houses a conference
room, museum space, courtrooms and a voting
precinct.
For more than 25
years, the Trust has recognized preservation
projects and individuals in the state who have
made significant contributions to the field of
historic preservation. Awards are presented on the
basis of the contributions of the person or
project to the community and/or state and on
compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s
Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
Excellence in Rehabilitation awards recognize
projects that make compatible use of a building
through repair, alterations or additions while
preserving features of the property that convey
its historic value. This year, the Trust presented
seven Excellence in Rehabilitation awards.
With more than 8,000 members, The Georgia Trust
for Historic Preservation is the country’s largest
statewide, nonprofit preservation organization.
Founded in 1973, the Trust is committed to
preserving and enhancing Georgia’s communities and
their diverse historic resources for the education
and enjoyment of all.
The Trust generates community revitalization by
finding buyers for endangered properties acquired
by its Revolving Fund; provides design assistance
to 105 Georgia Main Street cities and encourages
neighborhood revitalization; trains Georgia’s
teachers in 56 Georgia school systems to engage
students in discovering state and national history.
through their local historic resources; and
advocates for funding, tax incentives and other
laws aiding preservation efforts.
Late last year,
the Trust announced its first annual listing of
Georgia’s 10 Places in Peril.
The Georgia Trust is a recipient of the
Trustees Award for Organizational Excellence from
the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
For more information
on the Union Point School, contact Lynn Bowers,
director of Union Point Downtown Revitalization,
Inc. at 706-486-2351.
To learn more about
The Georgia Trust and the Preservation Awards,
visit
www.georgiatrust.org.
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