Lemos shows photos of the building from decades past, when it was an Atlanta Life Insurance Company branch office. Avenue corridor. For the first time in decades, redevelopment and new projects adorn Sweet Auburn, the storied neighborhood where Martin Luther King Jr. was born, John Wes-ley Dobbs served as unofficial mayor, and Herndon poured his soul and treasure into development. After decades of disinvestment following the destruction of the community to create interstate I-75/85, the neighborhood that Fortune magazine described in 1956 as “the richest Negro street in America” is finally seeing a new day. As Auburn Avenue booms, what is to be-come of the troubled old advertisement and the derelict building on which it is painted? Various organizations have a stake in the fate of 229 Auburn Avenue, among them Butler Street Community Development Corporation, its development partner Gorman & Com-pany, the Atlanta Preservation Center, and the National Park Service. Gorman & Company originally planned to demolish the entire building to make way for a large mixed-use development, but after pushback from community members and preservationists, it unveiled a new plan that preserves the historic structure. Joel Reed, Gorman & Company’s South-east market president, says the Gold Dust Twins ad will be preserved along with the building, adding that the company will work with preservationists and the Savannah College of Art and Design to provide educa-tional context around the advertisement and its history. Lemos and Hill Bond believe such an acknowledgment is important. “As someone who uses places to understand history, I think having [the Gold Dust Twins] in the shadow of the John Lewis mural, the Odd Fellows Building, and Big Bethel AME [Church] is a unique opportunity to teach about media and representation,” says Lemos. “As the general public continues to wake up to history around them, the redevelopment of Auburn Avenue has the opportunity to make those stories all the more visible.” Whether or not the Gold Dust Twins advertisement is preserved, Hill Bond be-lieves there will always be a need for people to share the history of this storied street. “[We] must continue to serve as a source of storytelling as we redevelop,” she says. “In doing so, we honor the multiple legacies of Auburn Avenue.” February 2025 • Atlanta 19
Atlanta Magazine Atlanta Magazine February 2025: Page 19
