Atlanta Medical Heritage Transfers Ownership of Academy of Medicine
July 28, 2008

(Atlanta) July 28, 2008 – Ownership of the Academy of Medicine, one of the few Atlanta buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, has been transferred to the Georgia Tech Foundation. Atlanta Medical Heritage Inc. made the gift in the wake of ongoing challenges faced by the nonprofit group to generate the resources necessary to maintain the historic landmark. (See Photo...)

“The financial demands for maintaining this splendid structure increased as the years passed by,” said Emory Schwall, president of Atlanta Medical Heritage’s Governing Board. “We simply lacked the resources to keep up with the ongoing needs and maintenance.”

Faced with this financial dilemma, the board’s mission was to identify an entity with the desire to take ownership of the building and the commitment to preserve and maintain the structure.

Schwall noted that the decision to transfer the property to the Foundation was based on Georgia Tech’s historic ties to the design of the building and because of the proximity of the landmark to the Institute’s Technology Square complex.

The Georgia Tech Foundation accepted the gift on behalf of the Georgia Institute of Technology. While the decision on how the property will be used will be determined by Georgia Tech, the first order of business will be making necessary renovations, according to the Foundation.

The 0.95-acre property, which falls within the bounds of Georgia Tech’s master development plan, comes with some strings attached for the Institute. The building’s name “Academy of Medicine,” must be retained. In addition, because the property is on the National Register of Historic Places, it cannot be developed and improvements must be consistent with the Academy’s historical significance. Artifacts from the small medical museum located in the building will be maintained on the first floor.

The five-bay building features a 254-seat auditorium, a library and dining room. A focal point of the interior is the Czechoslovakian crystal chandelier, which was part of the movie set of “Gone with the Wind.”

“The Academy of Medicine is one of Atlanta’s most finely designed public buildings and created by Atlanta’s most revered architect, Philip Trammell Shutze,” said Elizabeth Dowling, PhD, professor in Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture and author of American Classicist: The Architecture of Philip Trammell Shutze. “His use of plain and severe lines in this American version of the English Regency style reflects an appropriate character of elegant austerity for the post-Depression and pre-World War II era.”

Shutze was also a member of the first entering class of architecture students at Georgia Tech in 1908.

“In this centennial celebration year of Georgia Tech’s Architecture Program, it is especially meaningful that the Georgia Tech Foundation is ensuring the preservation of this important work by one of Georgia Tech’s early graduates,” concluded Dowling.