A Midtown church weighs its future after historic hall lands on ‘peril’ list

The parish had gathered to learn about the future of the historic church. As high-rise apartments and office skyscrapers have sprouted around All Saints’, church leaders are considering a sweeping renovation for its one-block campus, which houses century-old Gothic Revival buildings.

The church’s sanctuary, which was built in 1906, remains in good condition, but structural damage at its neighboring 108-year-old church hall has placed its future in question. Concerns that the building, called Egleston Hall, could be torn down or partially demolished earned it an entry on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2026 “Places in Peril” list of endangered structures.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Mainwaring emphasized to his parish on that March Sunday and to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a recent interview that no decision has been made regarding Egleston Hall’s future. But, he said, they’re “looking at all options.”

The uncertain future of the landmark building has divided the congregation and raised alarm bells for preservationists who have seen generations of Atlanta’s historic buildings razed and redeveloped.

While Midtown was busy for decades reaching new heights, All Saints’ has remained an oasis of early 1900s Atlanta, largely frozen in time.

“There’s not another block face I can think of in that whole area that is so well-preserved for 100 years-plus,” said Tom Weyandt, a longtime All Saints’ member and former planning director for the Atlanta Regional Commission. “Absolutely everything ought to be exhausted before any significant damage is done to that building.”

Central to the debate are damages Egleston Hall has already suffered.

As development has risen around All Saints’, dozens of fissure cracks have emerged along Egleston Hall’s brick and stone facade and along its interior walls and ceilings.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Mainwaring said funds are in the church’s coffers and designated for campus improvements. He, however, said it’s still being determined whether it’s prudent to use the money along with fundraising to try to repair the hall or for something purpose-built for the church’s current needs.

“We’ve deliberately and intentionally taken our time and listening to plenty of our neighbors to make the best decision we possibly can,” he said. “That requires a certain kind of patience.”

But the Georgia Trust and its peers see the preservation of Atlanta’s historic fabric as its own responsibility. The “Places in Peril” lists, which were inspired by the grassroots campaign to save the Fox Theatre from demolition threats in the 1970s, often focus on structures that carry architectural, historical or cultural significance — a trinity many say applies to Egleston Hall.

“Egleston is not simply just a building or a space. It’s a part of the identity of the city of Atlanta,” said David Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center. “And the stewardship of one’s salvation should also be the stewardship of the place that it is (located).”

Prime real estate

All Saints’ was birthed into a very different Midtown from the bustling metropolis seen today.

The church’s roots date back to 1901 and the generosity of Mary Jane Peters, the wife of Atlanta railroad executive Richard Peters. She donated a small piece of land to start an Episcopal church at the corner of West Peachtree Street and North Avenue.

The church built on the land was steadily joined by Egleston Hall and other structures as the parish grew to occupy the Midtown block. Mainwaring said there were debates throughout the church’s history to relocate to Buckhead or the suburbs, but the parish remained planted on its initial land.

“Turns out that was a good real estate investment,” he said.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

The church in late 2015 paid $1.6 million to acquire the last parcels of its nearly 3-acre block. The church’s land and buildings are assessed at more than $16 million, according to Fulton County records.

Its neighbors now include the North Avenue MARTA station, the Varsity and several skyscrapers, including Atlanta’s tallest, Bank of America Plaza. In 2021, Norfolk Southern, as part of a corporate rush to locate near Technology Square at Georgia Tech, opened its Atlanta headquarters across the street from Egleston Hall.

Mainwaring said construction of a nearby building caused a water table to drop by more than 20 feet, but he declined to name the specific tower. The damage resulted in structural shifts that compromised Egleston Hall’s foundation.

An undisclosed financial settlement was reached between the church and the new building’s owner, which the Georgia Trust said is Norfolk Southern. A Norfolk Southern spokesperson declined to comment.

More information on the structural damage and potential remediation costs will be disclosed later in April, Mainwaring said.

The church hall is named after prominent insurance agent and philanthropist Thomas R. Egleston Jr., whose will helped fund its construction after his death in 1916. His will also purchased the land that was developed into a children’s hospital, which was also named in his honor. That facility closed in 2024 after the opening of the Arthur M. Blank Hospital.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Since it was built in 1918, Egleston Hall has served a litany of purposes for All Saints’. It was a center for worship, Sunday school classes, music performances, community events and education.

It’s currently used for the church’s offices and a library, which is inside one of Atlanta’s last remaining horseshoe-shaped structures that’s called an Akron Plan. That name came from churches in Akron, Ohio, which are credited with pioneering the architectural style.

“Egleston Hall is more than a building,” said Sheffield Hale, parish member and president and CEO of the Atlanta History Center. “It’s a physical record of Atlanta’s civic, architectural and religious history. It’s an integral part of All Saints’ Gothic Revival campus and our identity and collective memory.”

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

The parish has historically been one of Atlanta’s loudest progressive church voices, and its members were prominent advocates during the Civil Rights Movement, AIDS crisis and debate over marriage equality laws.

Egleston Hall, or whatever replaces it, could serve as a second front door for the church, Mainwaring said, serving All Saints’ philanthropic missions. It also could continue to house the church’s music program, a homage to a long history of performers, including The Carter Family and Blind Willie McTell, who recorded sessions inside the hall in the 1930s.

“As the needs of churches and businesses evolve, the buildings have to evolve as well,” said Wright Mitchell, president and CEO of the Georgia Trust. “And the solution is not to tear down the building and build something new. It’s simply to engage in thoughtful adaptive reuse of that space.”

Serving the mission

Adaptive reuse is when a structure is converted from one use to another, which typically preserves the exterior of a building while transforming its insides for more practical uses.

Ponce City Market was a former Sears building, and many of the city’s event venues are converted warehouses, including Pullman Yards and King Plow Arts Center. Several outdated office buildings around Atlanta are also undergoing conversion into residential uses.

Now that All Saints’ owns its entire block, the church is creating a master plan to reevaluate how its campus fulfills its current mission. It comes at a time of flux for church attendance, especially among Episcopal branches.

Between 2011 and 2022, the national average attendance among Episcopal churches dropped 44%, according to a report produced by a “Future of Our Block” task force created by All Saints’. The Atlanta church’s Sunday attendance similarly dropped 41% between roughly the same time frame.

Declining membership and attendance among most church denominations have threatened many historic religious buildings across the state, according to Wright Mitchell of Georgia Trust.

“Our churches are struggling with dwindling congregations. A lot of our churches, more in the rural areas, are losing their congregations and becoming vacant,” he said. “In the city of Atlanta, with the population that we have, that’s less of a concern, but it’s still an issue.”

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

All Saints’ has begun to buck the trend following the COVID-19 pandemic. Sunday attendance increased nearly 64% from 2021 to 2023. All Saints’ demographics also skew slightly younger than the Episcopal Church as a whole, which typically has about half of its members older than 65. (Less than a third of All Saints’ parish is older than 65.)

All Saints’ has hired architecture firm Perkins & Will to help develop the church’s master plan. Specific details on building uses, construction timelines, and project costs haven’t been determined. A presentation by Perkins & Will on March 22 showed 2028 is likely the soonest they could pursue permits or begin any type of construction.

New development projects continue to reshape the fabric around All Saints’ campus. A 40-story student housing tower by developer Landmark Properties is in development across Spring Street in one of the Varsity’s parking lots.

But while the real estate may be valuable, Mainwaring told the parish there is “no desire or intention to sell the land.” Financially, the church has seen its parish giving increase 21% over the past decade, but the trends of shrinking religious participation have been building across the country for decades.

“There’s no crisis for us to avert,” he said. “But that long-term thinking allows us to be ready to act when the time is right.”