Decatur has set aside $64,444.07 for the removal and replacement of 22 deteriorated pallbearer stairs and railings, along with general landscape repair throughout its circa-1828 cemetery.
Though relatively minor, the work may wind up a notable footnote to the career of famed Atlanta landscape architect Edward Daugherty.
According to Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon, Daugherty has designed every improvement in the 45-acre Decatur graveyard since the 1960s. That includes both the massive renovation earlier this decade and the 1980s expansion.
“He’s hinting that he will retire when he turns 90 in October (20th),” Saxon told city commissioners Monday night. “I hope it’s not true. He’s an absolute genius.”
Daugherty’s resume extends well beyond Decatur. He spearheaded the preservation of Marietta’s square (1961) and downtown Atlanta’s redevelopment (1970). He also created the grounds at the Georgia Governor’s Mansion (1967), the Atlanta Botanical Garden (1981-95) and Cator Woolford Gardens in Druid Hills.
In 1954, he also helped establish The Atlanta Arts Festival, hosted the first year in Buckhead (where Whole Foods now stands) before moving a year later to Piedmont Park.
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