May 16, 2015

Beacon Municipal Center and Exhibits Opens in Decatur, GA, on May 16, 2015

The Beacon Municipal Center, which houses the Ebster Recreation Center and gym, Decatur Police Department & Municipal Court, City Schools of Decatur Administrative Offices, community gathering space, and exhibits, opened on May 16, 2015. The Center’s site was once home to Decatur’s segregated African American public schools – Herring Street School, Beacon Elementary, and Trinity High School. Working with Rutledge-Alcock Architects, the City of Decatur and Decatur Mayor Emerita Elizabeth Wilson, Lord Cultural Resources led the exhibition development and design as well as managed exhibit fabrication by Malone Design/Fabrication.

Exhibit content was developed through close community consultation and highlights community life in the Beacon community, student life, important community leaders, and the larger historical context that impacted the community, including segregation and desegregation, and the city’s “urban renewal” projects that changed the landscape of the area. The new Center incorporates elements of the original school buildings and serves as a valuable community resource so that the Center will continue to serve as a “Beacon” for all Decatur residents.

Congratulations to the City of Decatur on the opening of this important community resource!