Roswell residents urge city not to demolish historic building

Roswell is planning to demolish a historic building as part of a $20 million parking deck project, but the city is getting major pushback from residents and former officials.

Roswell wants to improve parking in the downtown Canton Street district and is acquiring properties to make way for a parking deck and walkways. City Council is seeking to acquire two properties on Alpharetta Street owned by the Roswell Masonic Lodge via eminent domain for $3.4 million.

Roswell plans to tear down the Masonic Hall building at 1054 Alpharetta St. to construct pedestrian walkways to and from the parking deck. The structure was originally Roswell Methodist Church and was built in 1859. The land was donated to the church by Barrington King, who co-founded the city of Roswell with his father Roswell King in 1839, three years after the elder King moved to the area.

Credit: Courtesy SaveRoswellHistory.Com

The parking deck project is funded through a $20 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2022. Roswell has not said if the public will be charged a fee for parking.

Historic preservationists and longtime Roswellians are urging the city to revise plans and save the historic building that has been described as ugly and unattractive because of its stucco exterior.

“The (Roswell) Historical Society is taking a very strong position in favor of saving the building,” board member Pat Miller said.

Miller and opponents of demolishing the building spent an hour discussing the historic value of the structure during a City Council forum on Monday.

Miller added that she is also president of the Alpharetta-Old Milton County Historical Society, and a member of both the Milton and Johns Creek Historical Society organizations.

“I can tell you that all of those cities would be appalled at the thought that Roswell would be tearing down a historic building. They would all give their right arm to have what y’all are calling an ugly building,” she said.

Roswell has issued a statement due to the backlash against demolishing the structure that says history is a longtime priority for the city.

“The city of Roswell is deeply dedicated to the preservation of its historic treasures.” the statement reads. “Over the years, the city has allocated millions of dollars towards the preservation and maintenance of five historic homes, the rejuvenation of Roswell’s Historic Square, restoration of the Old Mill Machine Shop and the implementation of its Historic Asset Activation Plan.”

The Masonic structure is recognized in the Library of Congress, according to former City Councilman Don Horton. The building is on a 1936 Historic American Buildings Survey as one of the five most historic buildings in Roswell.

Roswell Methodist Church occupied the building from 1859 until 1920 with the exception of a period of time when Union troops took over the church during the Civil War, Horton said during the forum.

The building was the site of a cotton seed warehouse and a car dealership before it was purchased by the Masons in 1952. The stucco exterior was added about 1973, Horton said.

Former Roswell Mayor Jere Wood, who served in office for 20 years, says he is on a mission to keep the Masonic Hall intact.

Wood launched an effort last week to save the historic structure. He started the website saveroswellhistory.com , which includes a petition that has more than 500 signatures, Wood told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Roswell King and his friends who moved from the coast (of Georgia), the houses they built and the churches they built, they’re all still standing … And it would be a crime for the city of Roswell to take taxpayers’ money to erase history,” he said.

Several residents who work in the building development industry or have served in city government estimate that the cost of demolishing the Masonic Hall could be more than $1 million.

“The walls are almost 3 feet thick … You’re going to have to adhere to all Georgia land abatement, asbestos procedures and it ain’t going to be cheap,” resident Neal Gasaway said, adding that the building is stable and sound.

Gasaway works as a licensed general contractor and has served on the design review board for Roswell.

Wood told the AJC that the Masons put stucco over the original brick of the building because of moisture problems.

“Historical preservationists have told me (the Masons) basically preserved the building,” Wood said. “There’s a Greek Revival building hiding under that stucco.”

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