Sandy Springs artists would be left out in the cold, some residents say, if the city uses Abernathy Arts Center property to create a new home for a state-of-the-art Anne Frank exhibit and Holocaust memorial.
The city is considering several uses for the property that would call for renovating the existing structures or rebuilding on the land.
Gary Alexander, a member of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust which would bring the exhibit and memorial to Sandy Springs, said it’s important for the city to find a home for his organization and the work of local artists, but the Abernathy Arts Center is not big enough for both.
The Abernathy Arts Center has been closed since March 2020 due to the pandemic and has held some virtual events. Alexander said if the center reopens and remains at its Johnson Ferry Road location, it will need to be remodeled.
Sandy Springs acquired the 4-acre property at 254 Johnson Ferry Road from Fulton County in September at a cost of $1. After voting to acquire the land, the city announced that the cultural arts center on the Holocaust was being considered as one of the possible uses for the site.
Sandy Springs Communications Director Jason Fornicola told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via email Thursday that City Council could finalize plans for the space by the end of the year.
Fulton offered the land on the condition that it used for public activities, officials said.
During a Tuesday City Council work session, resident Kyle Kurtz described the Abernathy Arts Center as a community space and city staple where artists take classes and display their work. Kurtz, near tears, said her daughters have taken classes and attended camp at the Abernathy Arts Center for years.
“You can’t take this away; it’s categorically wrong,” said Kurtz, one of the residents at the work session concerned with the arts center’s future. “If someone needs a place for a museum, find another property.”
The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust has raised $3 million dollars to create the exhibit devoted to the memory and stories of victims of the Holocaust, its members have said.
Alexander told City Council Tuesday that if the cultural arts center is built at the Johnson Ferry Road property, the commission would update and improve the property with Commission funds.
The site has four buildings. Three were built in the 1930s and renovated in 1974. Alexander said the main building was constructed about 20 years ago.
Deputy City Manager Dave Wells said during the meeting that redevelopment of the property could cost close to $2 million.
The Holocaust commission, a state agency that educates the public on the mass killing of Jews by Nazi Germany, has been working with The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam to create rotating exhibits for a new cultural center that would attract people from outside of Sandy Springs.
Last spring, residents opposed plans for the city to pay $2.4 million for construction of a new cultural arts center near the Performing Arts Center at the City Springs campus. Plans were for the city to own the building and rent the Commission a portion of the building for $150,000 annually for 40 years.
About the Author
