Atlanta, GA

Built in 1899, the Oakland Bell Tower is the most recognizable building on the grounds of Atlanta’s Historic Oakland Cemetery. In the 1970s, as annual burials declined and visitors significantly increased, the Bell Tower became a visitor center, gift shop, public restrooms, offices, and more. Correspondingly, it began to suffer the wear and tear of overuse and overcrowding, plus an accrual of deferred maintenance.

The ensuing renovation created a flexible, multi-level event space by returning the porches on the upper floor to their original open-air state, removing non-historic interior walls erected in previous renovations, adding a new stair, and preserving existing historic fabric that included two fireplaces and the original heart pine floor. The historic function of the building as the office of the sexton was also restored, as Oakland’s sexton returned to a new office in the renovated vault.  The addition of an entry ramp and new elevator made the Bell Tower accessible to all Oakland patrons for the first time in its storied history.

Photo Credits: Scott Chester, Super Crispy