ATTACHMENT “A” TO NOMINATION RESOLUTION N-21-175 / D-21-175 KEISHA LANCE 55 TRINITY AVENUE, S.W. SUITE 3350 - ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303-0308 TIM KEANE BOTTOMS 404-330-6145 - FAX: 404-658-7491 Commissioner MAYOR www.atlantaga.gov KEVIN BACON, AIA, AICP Director, Office of Design Designation Report for 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy – Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) In Accordance with Section 16-20.005(d) of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances Street Address(es): 1331-1333 Metropolitan Pkwy, SW Application Number: N-21-175 / D-21-175 Proposed Category of Designation: Landmark Building / Site (LBS) - Exterior Zoning Categories at Time of Designation: NC-9 (Neighborhood Commercial – 9) / Beltline Zoning Overlay District: 14 Land Lot: 105 County: Fulton Designation Report Sections: 1. Eligibility Criteria 2. Minimum Findings 3. Physical Description of the Property 4. Period of Significance 5. Neighborhood History and Context 6. Ownership, Occupancy, and Use of the Property 7. History and Narrative Statement of Significance 8. Bibliography 9. Contributing / Non-Contributing Structures 10. Potential for Transfer of Development Rights and Economic Incentives 11. General Boundary Description 12. Boundary Justification 13. General Plat Map 14. Property Photographs 15. Exhibits and Appendix Designation Report: Capitol View Masonic Lodge #640 Landmark Building / Site (LBS) - Page 1 of 45 ATTACHMENT “A” TO NOMINATION RESOLUTION N-21-175 / D-21-175 1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA As more fully described in this Designation Report, the 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) meets the following criteria for a Landmark Building / Site (LBS), as defined in Section 16-20.004(b)(2)(a): Group I - Historic Significance: Three (1) total criteria - if qualifying under this group alone, at least one (1) criterion must be met. The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site meets two (2) criteria: (2) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site is associated with the important historical trends and traditions of the Free and Accepted Masons, the longest continuous fraternal organization in world history. The Masonic Lodge at 1333 Metropolitan Parkway was chartered on October 29, 1913, with the building completed in 1922. The building was named “Capitol View Lodge” because of its placement on a small promontory with a view of the state capitol building. Between the late 19th to the first half of the 20th century, Masonic membership in the country steadily increased. By the 1950s and early 1950s, Masonic membership reached its height the United States, with more than four million members nationwide and an estimated 970 members at the Capitol View Masonic Lodge #640.1 (3) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building is associated with an extremely important cultural and social pattern of African-American history in Atlanta through the association of the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees located in the #1331 unit of the building between 1979-1990s. NAPFE is a national industrial labor union, headquartered in Washington, DC and was founded in Lookout Mountain, TN, in 1913 by, representatives of postal employees from 13 states. Its purpose was to fight and eliminate racial discrimination in the United States Postal Service. As noted in its own materials: “NAPFE union’s mission, broadly defined, to work to “eliminate discrimination and injustice in the federal service”.2 1 Capitol view Masonic Lodge 2 Postal unions.com Designation Report: Capitol View Masonic Lodge #640 Landmark Building / Site (LBS) - Page 2 of 45 ATTACHMENT “A” TO NOMINATION RESOLUTION N-21-175 / D-21-175 Since the Railway Post Office Union in the first half of the 20th century was segregated, African American railway Post Office clerks had no organization to defend their interests. Group II- Architectural Significance: Eleven (11) total criteria - if qualifying under this group alone, at least five (5) criteria must be met. The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) meets six (6) criteria: (1) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) clearly dominates and is strongly identified with a street scene and the urban landscape given its prominence in the Capitol View Historic District and as a neighborhood and commercial center at the intersection of Metropolitan Parkway and Dill Avenue. The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building is visually prominent at the corner of Dill Avenue and Metropolitan Parkway with its viewshed extending along both streets and within the surrounding neighbors for a considerable distance. Its prominence is heightened by the upward slope of Metropolitan Parkway as one approaches the property from the north. (2) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) is the work of exceptionally important master architect in Atlanta. Designed by prominent architect Robert Smith Pringle, who was the lead partner at the Atlanta architectural firm Pringle & Smith Architects. Their firm is credited with contributing, through their architecture, to the growth and development of Atlanta and the Southeast. (4) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) is an example of a style that is extremely rare in the City of Atlanta, as it directly reflects through its design and fenestration patterns its use as ceremonial space for a fraternal organization – the Free and Accepted Masons. (5) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building is exceptionally fine example of a unique style or building type given its intact Neoclassical Style, its symmetrical façade that uses marble for architectural accents, and its multi-story massing (office and ceremonial space above retail space) located outside of the central business district of the City of Atlanta. Designation Report: Capitol View Masonic Lodge #640 Landmark Building / Site (LBS) - Page 3 of 45 ATTACHMENT “A” TO NOMINATION RESOLUTION N-21-175 / D-21-175 (9) The exhibits a high degree of architectural integrity as it contains almost all its original features, materials, and finishes in their original condition and location. (10) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) has virtually all character-defining elements of its type and design intact. Originally constructed in 1922, the four-story Neoclassical Style commercial building possesses several of its original features and materials that identify its use as a multi-tenant commercial space and a Masonic Temple. (11) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site’s (LBS) retains is original site orientation. The building has not been moved or altered from its original orientation facing the corner of Metropolitan Parkway and Dill Avenue, previously known as Stewart Avenue and Dill Avenue. Group III - Cultural Significance: Three (3) total criteria - if qualifying under this group alone, at least one (1) criterion must be met, as well as least three (3) criteria from Groups I and II. The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy- Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) meets three (3) criteria: (1) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) has served as a focus of activity and a gathering spot in the urban fabric of the city. The 1331- 1333 Metropolitan Parkway building was primarily used as a gathering spot for the Masonic Lodge #640 of the Free and Accepted Masons. The building was also used as a community center for society organizations to gather and hold meetings. The Order of the Eastern Star and the International Order of the Rainbow Girls were among the main societies that held activities at the Masonic Lodge. The Masonic Lodge was additionally used as a central hub for various retail and commercial services that have served the surrounding community, such as a pharmacy, dentistry, and a barbershop. (2) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building is broadly known and recognized by residents throughout the City of Atlanta due to its significant size and Neoclassical Style which stand out from the surrounding 1-2 story early and mid-century residential Designation Report: Capitol View Masonic Lodge #640 Landmark Building / Site (LBS) - Page 4 of 45 ATTACHMENT “A” TO NOMINATION RESOLUTION N-21-175 / D-21-175 neighborhoods. The building has remained a prominent landmark in the neighborhood as new and old development has filled in and altered the surrounding city blocks. (3) The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building conveys a sense of time and place and has distinctive features that make it an exceptionally good resource for historic interpretation. The architectural features, size, and location of the Masonic Lodge conveys a strong sense of time in history that is highlighted by the materials, style, and signage / labels that show the building’s previous use as a Masonic Lodge and center for African American association through the presence of the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees. 2. MINIMUM FINDINGS The 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) meets the specific criteria referenced in Section #1 of this report (“Eligibility Criteria”). Further, as more fully described in this Designation Report, the 1331 Metropolitan Pkwy-Masonic Building Landmark Building / Site (LBS) also meets the “minimum criteria” for a Landmark Building / Site (LBS) as set out in Section 16-20.004(b)(1) of the Code of Ordinances of the City as follows: Section 16-20.004(b)(1):