Updated at 7:15 p.m. Friday
The city of Atlanta is moving to stop construction on an industrial development in northwest Atlanta that had drawn protest because of the property’s ugly history.
The site had been the location of the Chattahoochee Brick Co., a factory that relied on forced convict labor to churn out bricks that helped rebuild Atlanta after the Civil War.
The factory, owned by former Atlanta Mayor James English, operated under horrible conditions. Workers – mostly Black men, many arrested for petty crimes, then forced to work — were beaten, fed rotting food and lived in filth. Some were killed.
Neighbors and local activists have advocated for years to turn the location into a memorial to the victims of convict leasing.
On Friday afternoon, the mayor’s office announced it had filed a petition with the federal Surface Transportation Board to stop the development of a fuel terminal being built by Norfolk Southern railroad.
“Our Administration will do everything it can to protect the sanctity and significance of this property,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in a release from the city. “A site of such historic and environmental importance needs careful consideration before even limited development occurs.”
A spokesman for Norfolk Southern said the company is reviewing the petition and did not have any comment.
The company is currently building its new headquarters in Atlanta.
The mayor’s office had, to this point, been quiet on the question of what should happen with the site, though last year Atlanta City Council weighed in and asked Norfolk Southern to change its plans.
In its petition to stop work on the project, which cites prior reporting by WABE, the city writes that the site is of “tremendous historical and cultural significance to the citizens of the city of Atlanta.”
Donna Stephens, a neighborhood activist who has been leading the fight to stop the industrial development, said the news that the city was stepping in had brought her to tears Friday.
“I’m extremely happy,” she said. “There have been days where a number of us have been like, ‘Should we just throw in the towel?’ Because it felt like we weren’t getting anywhere.”
Stephens and others first started advocacy around the site five years ago, when a different company had planned a similar fuel terminal. That project appeared to stall a few years ago, when the city denied it a key permit.
Norfolk Southern announced last year that it was leasing the property with plans to build a fuel terminal.
“We should have continued pushing to make sure everything got resolved,” the first time, said Bob Kent, who lives near the property and has been working with Stephens. “Now, thanks to the mayor, we get a chance to recover.”
In addition to a memorial, Kent said he’d like to see a park built on the property, which sits on the Chattahoochee River near the confluence with Proctor Creek.
Earlier this week, Kent and Stephens were joined by other activists, pastors and former Atlanta politicians for a press conference at the site, where they called on the city to step in.
“We’re asking Mayor Bottoms, fight against this deal,” former state Sen. Vincent Fort said at the event. “Use the power of the office to stop this moral, economic and environmental injustice.”
City Councilman Dustin Hillis, whose district includes the property, said in an email that he was glad to hear about the city’s move to stop the development, and he’s confident they will prevail.
“I stand with our nearby neighborhoods, historic preservationists and environmental advocates who have been tireless in their efforts fighting this development,” he said.
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February 13, 2021 at 06:03AM
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