UGA Center for Community Design and Preservation

Side Quest! The Center for Community Design and Preservation was lucky enough to score a private tour of the newly opened Grizzle Beer Brewery in Monroe, GA. The project, undertaken by The Eulalia Group, saw the reuse of a former Ford Dealership in the downtown historic district as a brewery and taproom. Our Master of Historic Preservation students, faculty, and CCDP crew were given a tour of the space by the head brewer and Athens resident, Erin Boydstun, and we were able to hear about the reuse of a historic building from the perspective of a small business co-founder.

Fun fact: The event space in the back of the brewery houses painted signs from when the space operated as a Ford Dealership, and the signs were preserved and restored!

The Grizzle Beer tour concluded with a presentation and Q+A session facilitated by Chad Draper, the founder of The Eulalia Group. We were able to hear about his journey toward founding the vertically integrated real estate, development, construction, and property management business, The Eulalia Group. His real-world experience and knowledge gave us insight into the application of historic preservation tax credits and community grants.

Just as we thought the fun was over, Chad surprised us with a walking tour of The Eulalia Group’s properties in downtown Monroe. We were able to walk through a commercial space whose lobby has been converted into a rotating gallery. The Eulalia Building’s gallery currently houses the experiential exhibit, “Wish You Were Here,” an amazing example of the relationships between history, memory, preservation, and community engagement.

We had such an amazing time learning from Chad and the Grizzle Beer crew, and we cannot wait for more opportunities like this. Thank you to everyone who made this tour possible!

This weekend we had the opportunity to step into East Thomaston, listen, learn, and design alongside the people who know it best. The goal of the charrette was to envision a variety of attainable housing options in East Thomaston and explore connectivity between community assets. Through conversations with residents, stakeholders, and city leaders, we focused on understanding daily experiences, challenges, and the incredible potential already present in the community.

A sincere thank you to the stakeholders and city officials who shared their time, knowledge, and vision with us. Your voices shaped every step of this process.

And a special thank you to Taylor Smith for facilitating the experience, from guiding us through the site and leading discussions that made this immersive weekend possible. We are incredibly grateful for your generosity and leadership.

We’re honored to have been part of this conversation and excited to see how East Thomaston continues to grow.


DesignWithPurpose EastThomaston

SPOTS AVAILABLE! Volunteers needed this Saturday-Monday at our Thomaston, GA charrette! Come learn from a small town success story and help develop missing midde housing and a rail-trail path. All expenses covered! All are welcome to apply, BLAs and MUPDs are especially encouraged to join!

Last chance to sign up at the link in our bio!!

CEDers: Make Mon Jan 19 a Day ON by volunteering in our community! There are lots of opportunities for which CED folks are well suited, such as trail clearing, tree planting, historic home repair, cemetery beautification, school gardens, healing gardens, and farm work. Spots fill up fast, so find your favorite at uga.givepulse.com/group/118913 (link in Bio) and follow

Today CCDP hosted Five Fabulous FindIt alumnae for a lively lunch-and-learn—our own mini throwback to “Preservationists on Parade” (remember those, MHPs?!). Kristie, Katherine, Katie, Laura Leigh, and Megan—now all architectural historians with New South Associates—returned to campus to share the incredible work they’re doing.

It was such a joy to see former students turned colleagues and friends showcase their projects and connect them to our current FindIt work. We picked up fresh professional tips for survey, discovered new research resources, and enjoyed stories from the field that highlight what makes preservation work so rewarding.

Huge thanks to New South Associates for spending the afternoon with us and for the inspiration!

I am so proud of these students! It has been a busy week, with some preparing to lead 200 tenth graders on an interactive field trip, and others participating in the state historic preservation conference as hosts and presenters. Thank you all for showing up and giving back -- in clever and creative ways!
~Jennifer

What a beautiful Fall day for students from Prof. Jose Buitrago's LAND 3030-S courses to explore the Greenway! 

This semester, their planting design studio will blend service and learning as they develop reuse concepts for the historic Sandy Creek Pump Station. Designed by Athens City Engineer J. W. Barnett, this handsome Colonial Revival building was a marvel of its time - pulling a remarkable 1 million gallons of water a day in 1916. Sadly, decades of neglect spurred it to be placed on Historic Athens' Places in Peril list in 2020 (bit.ly/athensplaces).

Fourth-generation Athenian Daniel Epting has tirelessly advocated for its potential reuse. As Daniel notes, this site sits “at the crux of nature and industrialization” — making it a perfect opportunity for creative reimagining as both an educational resource and a comfort station.

We can’t wait to share our students’ design ideas later this semester!

.epting

Exciting news from our Findit team! The students had the opportunity to write about their summer work experiences, and the article is now live on the College of Environment + Design website! We want to extend a huge thank you to the organizations that made this summer possible, and we can’t wait for more summers of in-depth cultural resource management experience!!

https://ced.uga.edu/summer-rewind-findit-students-explore-georgias-historic-resources/

Experience UGA is back!
Want to share your skills and passion for Landscape Architecture with local 10th graders? Join us for an Interest Meeting on Thursday, Oct. 2, 5:30–6:30pm in the JSB Crit Space (yes, there will be Pizza 🍕!). All CED students Welcome!

At the meeting, you’ll get to pick which module you’re most excited about:
North Campus Tours – explore UGA’s historic spaces
Hand Graphics – teach sketching + drawing skills
Studio Life Tours – give students a behind the scenes look

This is your chance to align your strengths with a role you’ll love while helping 10th grade students discover design, history, and creativity.

Over the past two weeks, Findit put our vernacular architecture knowledge to the test in the city of Monticello as we conducted a historic survey with the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission. We learned how to use GIS tools in the field to update and enter new resources into Georgia’s state database, GNAHRGIS. The opportunity provided invaluable fieldwork experience, plus we got to tour interesting preservation success stories, like the Department Store turned Government Complex, and old Monticello High School, now Thomas Persons Hall! (https://thomaspersonshall.com) We want to extend a huge thank you to the City of Monticello and the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission for hosting us!
 

Had a MAJOR fangirl moment this week when our Academic Outreach group got to visit the UGA WeatherDawgs studio! This student-led, student-run broadcast studio provides hyper-local weather forecasts to the Athens and NE GA area—and they've literally saved lives!
In 2021, two Atmospheric Science students were watching tornadoes come across Alabama, with a particularly large, long-tracking, mile-wide one approaching Newnan GA. While outside their usual location range, it was significant enough that they decided to start broadcasting at midnight, not knowing if anyone would be watching. A Newnan resident (without cable) saw them on Facebook Live and was able to get her family awake and hustled into the bathtub under a baby mattress just as their house imploded around them.
The WeatherDawgs (and Dr. Marshall Shepherd and Dr. John Knox) are my Go-To weather sources, but I had no idea that the outreach the students provide is of their own volition. Give them a Follow and support, and be weather-aware!
Thank you to Dani and Gabe for the tour and letting us try out the surprisingly difficult (unless you're Dr. Stacy Jones) green screen!
~Jennifer
WeatherDawgs Dr. Marshall Shepherd, TV Personality, Professor, Author
UGA Public Service and Outreach