This Jane’s Walk, taking place in Downtown Decatur, focuses on themes of Art & Architecture, History & Culture.
Join historic preservation enthusiasts Helen McGaughy from Gene Kansas | Commercial Real Estate and Marissa Howard from the DeKalb History Center for an informative architecture walking tour in Downtown Decatur. The tour starts at The Blair Building, a bright pink 1939 Streamline Moderne design, and explores notable sites including the Old Courthouse, New Courthouse, Decatur High School, the Marble House, Agnes Scott College’s Main Hall, the historic Decatur Train Depot, and the Decatur Fire Station, with select interior tours. Participants will enjoy engaging stories and surprises along the way, along with complimentary coffee from OPO Coffee. Comfortable shoes are recommended for this 90-minute journey through Decatur's architectural history, co-hosted by the DeKalb History Center.
About the Walk Leaders
Helen McGaughy & Marissa Howard
Helen McGaughy supports various Gene Kansas | Commercial Real Estate properties by focusing on historic research, creative plans, development, and property management, and as a broker, she specializes in preservation and adaptive reuse projects. She grew up in Atlanta surrounded by the city’s many historical sites, quickly becoming an admirer of its earliest architecture and historic neighborhoods. Representing the creative and cultural side of commercial real estate in Atlanta, GK|CRE helps companies buy, sell, lease and develop. Company projects include the historic preservation of the Atlanta Daily World Building, leadership in creating the John Lewis HERO Mural and District V Honor Mural, the preservation of the VA-HI Building, the adaptive reuse of the Southern School Book Building where Constellations is proudly constituted, and the recent award winning preservation of the Blair Building.
Marissa Howard has served as the Programs and Membership Coordinator at the DeKalb History Center since 2017. In this role, she contributed to various research projects, spanning topics such as local history and roadside architecture. She has led walking tours all around DeKalb including the East Lake Neighborhood and Decatur Architecture. Additionally, she manages the DHC's membership program. Marissa graduated from Georgia State University and currently lives in Atlanta.
About Jane’s Walk
Jane’s Walk is an annual global festival honoring the legacy of urbanist, activist, and writer Jane Jacobs with free, citizen-led walking tours through the neighborhoods that lend so much character to our cities.
The festival promotes civic engagement and encourages leaders and participants to share stories about their communities and use walking as a means of connecting with their neighbors.
Location
- Begin: The Blair Building: 215 Church Street Decatur, GA 30030 - Parking in the Blair parking lot is free for the day
- End: Loop
The Details:
- Distance of Route: 1.2 mile
- Duration of Walk: 90 minutes
- Walk Language: English
- Accessibility: Terrain: Paved, One of the buildings has a second floor only accessible by stairs. This event is NOT Wheelchair accessible.
- What to Bring: Attendees should wear comfortable walking shoes. A bottle of water.
- No weather adjusted plans. Rain or Shine (adjustments to walk length if necessary).
Cancellation Policy
MODA reserves the right to cancel a program if the minimum enrollment requirements are not met.
If you need to cancel your plans for any reason, we kindly request that you notify us 48 hours prior to the event start.
By doing so, we can release your seat to another individual interested in joining us for this Jane’s Walk!
Photo Disclaimer: Pictures and videos will be captured during MODA public programs and may be published on the official website, social media, and newsletters of the Museum of Design Atlanta. If you do not wish to appear on these platforms, please write to felicia@museumofdesign.org.
