Atlanta city officials explore taking over dilapidated Greenwood Cemetery

A large dead tree stands front and center near the entrance of Greenwood Cemetery in southwest Atlanta Photo by Logan C Ritchie Greenwood Cemetery on Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta has fallen into disrepair under private ownership and city leaders are actively pursuing conversations about taking over the property The city has held meetings in latest months with stakeholders including families of those buried at the -year-old cemetery as well as Chinese Greek and Jewish locality leaders Winding lanes inside the cemetery are worn down and full of potholes Several large dead trees loom over dirty headstones signage is broken and the land is eroding in swaths Chartered in Greenwood is known for the Memorial to the Six Million a site on the National Registry of Historic Places which holds annual events to commemorate those who perished in the Holocaust The cemetery has a large Jewish population as well as the Chinese Memorial Garden and a gated Greek section In the Greek Ladies Auxiliary Society founded St Barbara s Chapel the oldest Orthodox church in continuous use in Georgia according to local historian Victoria Lamos Those buried at Greenwood include S Truett Cathy the founder of Chick-fil-A Frank Taffell a founder of Congregation Beth Jacob and Hank Ballard who wrote and originally recorded in the party song The Twist The Memorial to the Six Million at Greenwood Cemetery in southwest Atlanta is on the National Registry of Historic Places Photo by Logan C Ritchie Atlanta s Parks and Recreation Commissioner Justin Cutler has for two months led preliminary talks about a workable transition in ownership The majority up-to-date meeting held on Tuesday Oct was an informal and private conversation between Commissioner Cutler and members of Atlanta s Jewish congregations with loved ones buried at Greenwood Cemetery a City of Atlanta employee reported Out of respect for the attendees we are not sharing any information Cutler was not promptly available for comment Greenwood is owned and operated by F Coll Bowen III and formerly by his father Frank Bowen Jr Calls to the cemetery by Rough Draft were unanswered Several stakeholders commented broken landscape equipment on site is not being repaired or replaced by the Bowen family Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal approved that landscapers were hired by Ahavath Achim AA Synagogue to maintain the section used by the congregation Protecting spaces that have meaning and value is becoming more and more complicated and tough declared David Y Mitchell executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center He believes the location and size of Greenwood is influential to the area Adjacent to Greenwood Cemetery the City of Atlanta is revitalizing the John A White Golf Curriculum A two-story -square-foot multi-purpose activity center is expected to open in to serve both the senior public and golf enthusiasts The Greenwood Cemetery gravesite of Dorothy Huff a young girl who perished in an Atlanta fire Photo by Logan C Ritchie Whether it be a cemetery or an identified and acknowledged and recognized historic building on Edgewood Avenue we are a values nation in transition Cemeteries should represent a place where we remember and visit to remind ourselves of past experiences and those that hoped for us to do better Mitchell noted A cemetery is the zenith example of a space where we should feel our loved ones are at peace yet we see that it is the living that continue to be the issue far more than the dead Karen Lansky Edlin is the president of Eternal Life Hemshech the organization that maintains the Memorial to the Six Million Edlin mentioned she hopes the City of Atlanta initiatives in and moves forward because of the memorial s historic status In the Holocaust survivors in Atlanta spent time discussing where to put the memorial They knew synagogues and Jewish centers could come and go but a cemetery would be forever mentioned Edlin They needed people to be able to come and visit They sought it in general place And of unit it seemed most of fitting to be in a cemetery When we go to the memorial we see evidence on the inside that people have come and they have visited People are touched and leave behind flags coins stones and stuffed animals Rich Lapin learned about the prospective change from his synagogue Temple Emanuel in Sandy Springs Lapin s in-laws are buried at Greenwood Cemetery where he and his wife have plots I was surprised to learn about this of late and am concerned about what it might mean for me my wife and her extended family who are buried at Greenwood Cemetery Lapin noted The post Atlanta city officers explore taking over dilapidated Greenwood Cemetery appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta