$10M Capitol walkway plan faces preservationist backlash
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State officials say the pedestrian bridge is designed to be removed in the future, if desired. Rendering: Courtesy of Georgia Building Authority
A proposal to build a $10 million pedestrian bridge connecting the Georgia Capitol to a new legislative office building is headed to the Atlanta City Council's Transportation Committee this week for a high-stakes preservation showdown.
Why it matters: State officials say the bridge, part of a nearly $400 million facelift of Georgia's Capitol Hill, would improve security and accessibility.
- Historic preservationists say the proposed addition to Downtown's portfolio of gerbil tubes would deface the most prominent and symbolic of Georgia's public buildings.
Driving the news: The council's Transportation Committee will consider legislation today that would grant the state an air rights easement to build the bridge over MLK Jr. Drive.
Zoom in: Gerald Pilgrim, the Georgia Building Authority chief of staff, says the bridge's design aims to minimize damage to the Capitol's limestone facade. The project would also allow the restoration and reopening of the historic State Library.
- The GBA, which oversees state property, considered an underground tunnel but deemed the option too expensive ($40 million) and less efficient (it would require digging deep and then up in the Capitol's basement, Pilgrim said).
Yes, but: David Y. Mitchell of the Atlanta Preservation Center told Axios a tunnel is the best option to preserve history and for pedestrian safety. The walkway "demeans and diminishes the Capitol's integrity, without question," he said.
- "Could you conceive of the White House having what looks like a toilet paper roll sticking out of one side of it connected to another building for elected officials to waddle back and forth?"
- The walkway would arguably see the most use only three or four months out of the year, when the General Assembly meets, Mitchell said, adding that the public should have been offered earlier input on the project.
Zoom out: Downtown Atlanta is no stranger to pedestrian bridges (see: the hamster tubes connecting the John Portman-designed high-rise hub).
- None cut into history like this, however. According to Mitchell, no other Capitol buildings have an elevated pedestrian bridge.
What's next: Once the city allows access, GBA will begin a public-input process required under the Georgia Environmental Policy Act.