Wednesday, October 11, 2000
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Wednesday, October 11, 2000 |
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Resident works on restoring opera house Fayette County's John Rivers is hoping to restore a piece of history on the Southside. Rivers, a mechanical engineer, is the new owner of the Grand Opera House in Griffin. Looking at the structure, it's hard to tell where to begin the rehabilitation that will bring this once-vibrant building back into modern-day life. Most of the windows in the theater upstairs have been filled in with stucco, some exterior brick has been repainted and other design elements have changed. "Preservation of the building is top priority. I want to keep it as original as possible," Rivers said. Griffin's Grand Opera House is one of more than 1,700 buildings statewide that has received assistance from the Georgia Trust's Main Street Design Assistance Program. Since 1981, the program has been integral to Georgia's downtown revitalization efforts, helping building owners make the most of their historic properties through exterior design and rehabilitation. Georgia Trust Design Manager Paul Simo, a relatively new employee of the trust, has already made quite an impact on the program. Utilizing his background in graphic design, he has implemented current technology-based tools, such as computer-aided renderings of "before" and "after" downtown facades. The renderings are just one part of the program. When a Main Street building owner contacts his or her Main Street manager, the manager then contacts Simo for advice or a site visit. Through various levels of assistance, he provides technical information on preservation techniques and products that would facilitate the rehabilitation work. Seminars, workshops, slide presentations and other materials are also offered to inform Main Street program directors, design committees, building owners, merchants and the general public about proper downtown design, historic preservation and building rehabilitation and maintenance. "I feel like the information Simo has given me is general enough so I can really apply it to the building. Yet, I've received enough technical information so I can make a knowledgeable decision," said Rivers. The Georgia Trust is the country's largest statewide nonprofit preservation organization, with more than 9,000 members. |