Atlanta Preservation Center Free Historic Attraction Tours

By Carolyn Stine McLaughlin
The Atlanta Preservation Center’s A Phoenix Flies: A Celebration of Atlanta’s Historic Sites will feature guided walking tours of the L.P. Grant Mansion among other local historic attractions. The annual celebration, to be held March 8-23, gives the public access to hundreds of free events at historic sites important to Atlanta’s past, present, and future.
Other events at the Phoenix Flies Celebration will include guided walking tours, bicycle tours, exhibits, lectures and interactive children’s activities. Notable events include:

• The Atlanta History Center’s tours of Kenan Research Center
• Atlanta Preservation Center’s guided walking tours of historic Atlanta
• The Atlanta Urban Design Commission’s tours of historic City Hall
• Tours of the Biltmore, the Glenn Hotel, and the Tabernacle
• Lectures about historic preservation by Easements Atlanta, the Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and MH Mitchell Inc.
• Whittier Mill Village Association’s neighborhood house tour
• Westview’s self-guided, guided, and bicycle tours.

All events of the Celebration are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, but many events require reservations. Events are posted on the APC website. APC members and Preservation Partners receive full-color, 50+ page programs of the event.
To produce the celebration, the Atlanta Preservation Center (APC) coordinates the efforts of what are referred to as Preservation Partners. These organizations, businesses, and individuals care for and promote historic sites in the City. Preservation Partners are not charged a fee to participate. The APC raises all funds necessary to produce and publicize the event with private donations, sponsorships, and grants. The Celebration began in 2003 as a way to mark the 25th anniversary of the saving of the Fox Theatre, an event that is used to mark the beginning of Atlanta’s preservation movement. The first Phoenix Flies featured 40 events and 16 Preservation Partners. For the 11th celebration in 2014, the APC anticipates 200 events and 80 Preservation Partners. The celebration continues to grow as the public learns of the importance and pleasure of preserving Atlanta’s historic fabric.
The APC is the City’s private nonprofit preservation organization. Its mission is to promote the preservation of Atlanta’s architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings, neighborhoods, and landscapes through education and advocacy.