[Renderings: RL Brown & Associates via AHC. Progress photos: AHC Tumblr.]
Construction crews are ramping up work at the Atlanta History Center this month, prepping for the relocation of the Cyclorama painting and exhibit from its longtime home in Grant Park near Zoo Atlanta. The Battle of Atlanta, painted 130 years ago, will find a new home in the Whitaker Cyclorama Building, allowing the massive oil painting to be displayed in its entirety for the first time in a century. No small endeavor, the project has so far necessitated the removal of more than 700 truckloads of dirt in preparation for construction, according to the Atlanta History Center. The work comes as a major renovation that transformed the Center's entry from West Paces Ferry Road finally wraps up.
Not just a home for the painting, the new project will house memorabilia being moved from the classical Grant Park building. The Texas, a steam locomotive made famous in a railway chase during the Civil War, is being restored and will find a home in the entry hall of the new building. Encompassing about 23,000 square feet, the entire project will cost around $32 million, with financing coming from private donors.
Meanwhile, down in Grant Park, plans call for the building that housed the canvas for the last 100 years to be converted into an events facility.
· Coming Soon: Atlanta Cyclorama [Atlanta History Center]