It was just over 150 years ago when organized medicine developed in Fulton County. The Brotherhood of Physicians, later known as the Atlanta Medical Society and most recently as the Medical Association of Atlanta, formed in 1854 and would hold its meetings at various locations.
In 1941, the organization found a permanent home at West Peachtree and Seventh streets. The Academy of Medicine served as a place for members to obtain medical information from the in-house library or attend lectures in the theater. But through the decades, as the medical industry became more specialized and as doctors had greater access to information, demand for services provided at the Academy of Medicine declined.
When Atlanta Medical Heritage donated the building to the Georgia Tech Foundation in 2008, the building, a neoclassical wonder of columns, pavilions and a portico, was in need of an upgrade despite an early '80s renovation. After a yearlong, $6 million restoration, the Historic Academy of Medicine -- which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places -- reopens Thursday with hopes that it will serve as a premier meeting and event space for the Tech community and beyond.
"We have a civic obligation when we acquire a property like that to put it in the best condition we can because it is an asset to the city," said Rosalind Meyers, vice president of campus services.
Not only was it important to restore the historic building, she said, but it was also important to preserve the work of the building's architect, Philip Trammell Schutze. In 1912, Schutze was a member of the first graduating class of Tech's School of Architecture. Schutze -- who also designed the Swan House and a number of residential properties in the area -- went on to earn a reputation as the Southeast's pre-eminent authority on neoclassical architecture.
Situated on about 1 acre of land, the 19,000-square-foot Academy of Medicine features rooms on upper and terrace levels. A dining room, parlor and library flank the theater upstairs, while below, three rooms can be joined to create a larger space. Visitors enter into a rotunda with black and white Italian marble tile and a Czechoslovakian chandelier that once appeared in "Gone With the Wind" and was donated by Margaret Mitchell.
The peach and teal '80s decor has been replaced by classic white and off-white, an elevator was added (previously there was only a freight elevator), the 230-seat theater was revamped to make it handicap-accessible, and a host of underlying issues, such as plumbing, electrical work and windows, were remedied, Meyers said.
Much of the furniture and artwork were reclaimed from original sources, and the foundation made every effort to preserve many of the books from the library as well as the medical artifacts -- such as microscopes, pumps and glass eyes -- displayed throughout the building.
Already, inquiries are coming in for everything from meetings to weddings to galas.
"If you are going to use a building, you want it to present well to the people who are using it," Meyers said. "We saw it as a great asset to the campus. It is a wonderful venue."
Event preview
Grand reopening of the Historic Academy of Medicine
12-5 p.m. Thursday. Free.
875 W. Peachtree St. N.W.
404-894-1414. www.academy.gatech.edu.
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