Modern Design of Atlanta Civic Center May Be Saved in Mixed-Use Project

In a city that in the past has bulldozed some notable architecture rather than preserve it, the Atlanta Civic Center stands out as an unlikely survivor.

Even so, the fact is that the late 1960s Civic Center complex is still standing, even though officials once looked at demolishing it.

Designed by Harold Montague, an architect with Atlanta firm Robert & Co., the Civic Center’s 4,600-seat theater is a notable example of modern architecture, according to preservation group Docomomo. The 1968 structure has an exterior of brown brick layered in complex patterns. The interior design features a collection of lobby chandeliers designed by Rambusch Lighting Co. in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The Civic Center theater hosted Broadway shows in the 1960s and 1970s, a concert by R.E.M. in 1984 and the game show "Family Feud" was filmed there in the 2010s. An annex that sits across the plaza from the theater once housed a science museum. But the entire complex has been mostly vacant for the past decade. The city of Atlanta once considered demolishing it to make room for a new performing arts center, but those plans fell through.

The Atlanta Housing Authority acquired the property in 2017 for $31 million, and last year hired Republic Properties, The Michaels Organization and Sophy Capital to develop a master plan. A proposed affordable housing-anchored mixed-use project would retain the historic theater. A project timetable has not been released.

A development that keeps that theater will contrast with other structures in the city that have been removed. They include Terminal Station, demolished in 1972; the Kimball House hotel, razed in 1959; the State of Georgia Archives, leveled in 2017; the U.S. Post Office and Customs House, torn down in 1930; the Nassau Street recording studio, razed in 2019; and the Peachtree Arcade, taken down in 1964.