In 2014, historic preservationists lost a fight to save two buildings with historic ties to the African-American community. The Charles Douglass house and Tremont Temple Baptist Church, which played a key role in the Civil Rights era, were both torn down to make way for a new commercial development. 

The Tremont Temple Baptist, which was visited by Martin Luther King, Jr. is now a Dunkin Donuts. The Charles Douglass house is now a Subway restaurant. 

From this fight, Historic Macon created the Fading Five list which highlights buildings and historic landscapes that are at risk of being demolished. They created the first list in August 2015. 

Each year Historic Macon takes nominations from the general public, their board, and their preservation committee. 

“The preservation committee at Historic Macon then sort of works our way through those nominations, said Historic Macon Executive Director Ethiel Garlington, “and then we put together a slate of recommendations that go to the Board of Trustees.”  They vote on it, and Historic Macon announces the list in August. 

The 2021 nomination form is already live on Historic Macon’s Fading Five website. Anyone can submit a historic property that is at risk. The deadline is July 2. 

If a property is not saved during the year, it will remain on the list until it is no longer under threat or the Historic Macon Preservation Committee determines that it has been appropriately preserved, according to the Historic Macon website. 

“Some organizations across the country come out with a new endangered list every year,” said Garlington, “but at the beginning when we started the Fading Five, we wanted to make sure that these places are truly saved before they come off the Fading Five. 

Garlington said that the Fading Five list has a high success rate including new life for the former Alexander IV Elementary School, the Guy E. Paine house, and the Ware House. 

Alexander IV Elementary is the fourth free public school named after Elam Alexander, a notable architect, according to Historic Macon. Alexander came to Macon in 1826 and became a leading builder and contractor for many old Macon residences and buildings. He wanted free schooling for children in the Macon community, so he created the Elam Alexander Trust Fund. Within the fund, he built four public schools in the Macon community. Alexander IV was his fourth school and was built in 1932.

Alexander IV Elementary School was on the first Fading Five list in 2015. In October 2016, Dover Development, a firm in Knoxville, Tennessee presented a proposal to Historic Macon, to turn the school into a high-quality senior living facility. In December of that same year, they won the proposal and are working on the transformation now. 

The historic school will have 86 apartments for seniors, gathering spots, and a full restaurant according to an associate from Dover Development. The company plans to preserve the building to keep the identical look as it transforms into the senior living facility. 

The Guy E. Paine House is an Italian Renaissance-style home that was built in 1912. The home is built around an atrium. 

Rachelle Wilson, who recently bought the home, said one of the coolest things about the house to her is an old coal chute pole with an iron door that is in the basement.

It is stamped by Schofield Iron Works, an iron forge that was located in Macon. Wilson loves having an early 1900s piece of history in the home, “I think that was cool and insane,” Wilson said.

Since 1998, the house has been foreclosed on twice, according to Historic Macon. Before the property was bought, it was neglected and heavily overgrown. The house was on the Fading Five list in 2017, 2018, and 2019. 

While Wilson and her fiance, Trent Mosely, renovate the 100-year-old house, they plan to keep the historic look by preserving the original doors, original windows, and plaster walls.

Another historic home saved from the Fading Five List, is the Ware House in the Beall’s Hill neighborhood. It is a Queen Anne style architecture with free classic details that was built by Thomas Jefferson Ware around 1880, according to Historic Macon.

Ryan Griffin bought the home from Historic Macon and did a complete renovation. He said that anyone interested in owning a historic home needs to know that they require a little extra care. 

“[It’s] important that we as this next generation have been allowed to carry the torch a little bit. So I’m encouraging folks to consider that carefully going in that they’re gonna take a little bit more effort to care for the house, but at the end of the day, you’re part of something kind of unique and special,” Griffin said. 

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