Historic Macon Foundation added two new sites to its 2021 Macon’s Fading Five list on Thursday, including the Willingham-McBrearty House on College Street.

The preservation nonprofit also removed two historic houses — the Coddington House on Vineville Avenue and the Dewitt McCrary House on Hydrolia Street — after new owners bought them.

Ethiel Garlington, Historic Macon’s executive director, made the announcement in front of the Dewitt McCrary House Thursday morning.

“With the help of our partners and the Macon community, we are making steady  progress in saving our historic buildings,” he said. “This preservation work is important to our neighborhoods and the very fabric of Macon. We’re grateful for everyone who stands with us.” 

The other new addition to the 2021 list is the former First National Bank and Trust Co. building on Houston Avenue. Besides the two new additions, the 2021 Fading Five list also includes  the Roxy Theatre; the Coaling Tower;  and the Bobby Jones Performing Arts Center. 

Historic Macon sifts through nominations each year to craft its Fading Five list. 2021 marks the seventh year of the program, which calls attention to historic sites across Macon-Bibb County that could be lost due to development or neglect. 

To date, Historic Macon has listed 17 such properties. In all, 11 of them have been saved and protected, while just one property has been lost.

In 2014, the community lost two historic structures, Tremont Temple Baptist Church and the former Charles H. Douglass home, to commercial development, prompting the Fading Five initiative. 

This year, Historic Macon’s Preservation Committee culled through nominations from its members as well as the general public to select the 2021 list. Through the program, Historic Macon crafts strategic preservation plans for each of the listed properties, working creatively with property owners, local leaders and supporters to find solutions. 

A property remains on the list until the site is no longer under threat, the Preservation Committee determines that it has been appropriately preserved, or it is lost. A new list is announced annually, with updates for each site. 

Thanks to the generosity of the 1772 Foundation and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, HMF has a revolving fund — the Fading Five Fund — dedicated to preserving endangered places in the community.  These funds have been used to revitalize houses in the North Highlands neighborhood and acquire the old Fire Hall No. 4 on Third Street, which will become Historic Macon’s new headquarters later this year. 

For nearly 60 years, HMF has helped preserve hundreds of historic buildings. The Fading Five program is another tool to help promote the community’s rich, diverse heritage. 

For more information and to get involved with Macon’s Fading Five, visit www.historicmacon.org or call 478-742-5084.

Here’s a closer look at this year’s sites, as well as updates:

OFF THE LIST:

Coddington House, 2510 Vineville Ave.

Dana Ketcher and Ryan Tokarz bought the Coddington House in June and will live there. The home, designed by Neel Reid, one of Georgia’s most renowned architects, is located in the Vineville Historic District.

Dewitt McCrary House, 320 Hydrolia St. 

The Urban Development Authority bought the Dewitt McCrary House in July. The Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commission had saved the house from the wrecking ball four years ago, and it faced another development threat earlier this year. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974.

NEW TO THE FADING FIVE LIST:

Willingham-McBrearty House, 381 College St.

The Willingham-McBrearty House has a Classical Revival style, evident in the full-width front porch with full-height Corinthian columns. It is located on a high-visibility street and is near other historic, high-profile homes and buildings, including the 1842 Inn and the McDuffie Center for Strings.

The house was built by Calder Willingham about 1904, when he married Eunice Williams. This was their home. Willingham was president of the Willingham Cotton Mill and, later, the Willingham Loan & Trust Co. The property remained in the Willingham family until about 1942. 

The next owner of note was John F. McBrearty, who bought the home in 1945. Members of the McBrearty family owned the house until 2005, when it went through a period of short-term owners before Quantum Dynamics, a business management consulting company on Second Street, bought it in 2011. 

Some work has been done on the home in recent years, including replacing the monumental front columns. The house has sat vacant, though, and been severely underutilized.

Among the repairs it needs are to the gutter system, which has led to erosion of the roof cornice.

The main threat facing this building is long-term vacancy and the associated maintenance issues. The ideal solution would be its purchase as a single-family home, with maintenance commensurate to that of adjacent properties.

The First National Bank and Trust Co., 2791 Houston Ave. 

This building was built about 1957 as the southside branch of The First National Bank and Trust Co. It was the first branch bank that First National opened. The bank appears to have stopped operating there by 2000. Vivian Wiley bought it in 2002 before it transferred between LLCs in 2008 and 2019.

It is a mid-century modern building, making it the first such structure on the Fading Five list.  

Stylistically, the building combines mid-century elements with modern takes on traditional bank architecture. The cast-stone panels on the side elevation, the paired horizontal metal sash windows and the metal, storefront system entrance are all mid-century features. The building also has modern takes on historic themes and traditional bank architectural style. 

The building faces several different threats, including vacancy, vandalism and demolition through neglect.

The solution would be a sale to a proactive owner who will repair it, put it back into service and then maintain it.

UPDATES: 

The Roxy Theatre, 445 Hazel St. 

Historic Macon is in the initial phase of nominating the Roxy Theatre for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. It was added to the Fading Five list in 2020. That nomination effort was delayed because an HMF representative could not get inside to take photos for documentation. In July, we were able to do so. 

The nomination would add additional momentum to rehabilitating the building — and the surrounding area — in tandem with Weston Stroud’s project to establish a food park and pedestrian plaza. 

The Coaling Tower, 989 Seventh St.  

Discussions continue to try to find a solution for the Coaling Tower, which was used as a coal chute until 1965, when its current owner, Transco Railway, bought the tract it sits on.  

The site, located in the county’s Industrial District, was added to the Fading Five list in 2018 and is threatened with demolition by neglect. Historic Macon will  continue the dialogue with Transco to try to secure a conservation easement on the iconic structure. 

Bobby Jones Performing Arts Center, 1389 Jefferson St.

The Bobby Jones center is still in limbo as a result of contested ownership stemming from a split in the nonprofit group that owns it. It was added to the Fading Five list in 2017 and remains in danger of demolition by neglect. 

Historic Macon is still trying to find a new owner for the building, located in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood. Among its uses could be a community engagement venue.