Georgia city recognized for saving its historic city hall

GRIFFIN, Ga. (AP) - The Georgia city of Griffin is being recognized for saving its century-old city hall building from neglect and decay.

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation says the restoration of the 1910 building has received the nonprofit’s annual Marguerite Williams Award, given to a project considered to have had the greatest impact on preservation in the state during the previous year.

Griffin’s city offices had vacated the old city hall building in 2003, after which the roof deteriorated and the building suffered significant water damage, the Georgia Trust said in a news release.

But the city rallied to rescue the building after it ended up on the Georgia Trust’s annual list of “places in peril” in 2014. Griffin passed a special sales tax to fund rehabilitation work, and improvements were carried out from 2017 through last year.

The old city hall building now houses offices for the Griffin’s economic development department and has space that can be rented for special events.