The University of Georgia – Lumpkin Street and Overall Master Plan

The Athens-Banner Herald ran an article about UGA's plans to demolish the Kappa Alpha House on Lumpkin Street on July 31, 2008. Of course, plans for the Lumpkin Street area have been in the works for several years and the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation has made inquiries, especially about the two fraternity houses closest to Broad, the Chi Phi House (c.1920s) and the KA House (c.1948). Unfortunately, the University's goal to redevelop this area versus potentially reuse the houses has seemed a certainty for some time. Those plans were confirmed earlier in early summer 2008 when they submitted paperwork to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) informing the SHPO of their plans to demolish the KA House. (Click on "KA House Conditions Assessment.") State law requires state agencies to take this step but only gives the SHPO the opportunity to comment, not the ability to prevent the demolition.
 
The Foundation has not taken a strong public stand against the demolition of the KA House, but the Board of Trustees did meet with Danny Sniff (UGA Ofice of University Architects) and Pat Allen (Community Relations) on July 28, 2008, to discuss the Lumpkin Street plans as well as UGA's future plans for the campus, especially those that might impact historic buildings on campus. As a result of that meeting, ACHF sent a letter to the University (see below), and copied the Banner-Herald, urging UGA to move forward with developing a comprehensive historic preservation plan for the campus, as recommended by the SHPO, so that we and the community-at-large will know what the University's priorities are going to be in terms of their historic buildings. We will follow-up with the University about developing the plan.

To view the University’s current master plan and other planning information, visit the following website: http://www.camplan.uga.edu/.

KA House Conditions Assessment PDF

Georgia Historic Division Letter to UGA

ACHF letter to UGA