The 1923 granite church building was all but abandoned. But it didn't cause much trouble until the roof collapsed last winter. It's Hapeville First Baptist's old stone church and it may be a goner, gone even before you read this.
A group has gathered to save it. I hope they can delay demolition long enough to find a solution. But these are difficult problems.
I stumbled on to it in the spring of 2011. It was like discovering a ruin in the forest. You can see the airport from here but it's not on the way to anywhere even for most Hapevillians.
This is from 1954. The portico was still there, and the stained glass. Image purchased from the Atlanta History Center.
The neighbors saw it like this in the spring.
Maybe not love at first sight but certainly fascination at first sight.
Yesterday I saw the shadows of the trusses. How much of the roof is still up there?
First Baptist built beautiful new buildings in 1964.
The designers / architects did fine job of blending old and new..
It's a an amazingly quiet and human scaled property and it's right on the street. This 28 second video shows what it's like from the sidewalk.
I hope there will be much more to this story. Thanks.