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BellSouth Center (Atlanta)
Encyclopedia
AT&T Midtown Center I is a 206.4 m (677.2 ft), 47-story skyscraper
in Midtown
Atlanta, Georgia
. Formerly known as BellSouth Center and Southern Bell Center. Completed in 1982, it serves as the regional headquarters of BellSouth Telecommunications
, which does business as AT&T Southeast, and was acquired as part of AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth
. BellSouth Corporate headquarters was located in the Campanile building, also in Midtown.
which would have been an especially great loss to the city after the downtown Loew's Grand Theatre
was destroyed by fire in 1978. Tremendous opposition
, protest
s, fundraising
, and petition
drives within the community
prevented the Fox's demolition
. Even Liberace
spoke out on behalf of the "Fabulous Fox". In the end, a complicated deal was struck to build the parking deck on an alternate site north of the main tower on West Peachtree Street.
The building has a direct entrance to the North Avenue
MARTA Statio
n, which is located at the southern end of the complex and was built concurrently with the building which is integrated with the skyscraper's foundation. In 2002, BellSouth completed construction of two additional mid-rise buildings adjacent to the tower to form its Bellsouth Midtown Center campus as part of its effort to consolidate office space around mass transit stations.
The architect
s who designed the tower were Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
and Rosser International
, Inc. The general contractor for its construction was Beers Skanska, Inc. The building also served as a filming location for the 1993 science fiction action film RoboCop 3
, in which it was used as the setting for the headquarters of the evil mega corporation O.C.P the main antagonist organization in the RoboCop trilogy.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in Midtown
Midtown Atlanta
Midtown is the second largest financial district in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, situated between the commercial and financial districts of Downtown and SoNo to the south and the affluent residential and commercial district of Buckhead to the north...
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Formerly known as BellSouth Center and Southern Bell Center. Completed in 1982, it serves as the regional headquarters of BellSouth Telecommunications
BellSouth Telecommunications
BellSouth Telecommunications, LLC is the Bell Operating Company of AT&T that serves the southeastern United States. It absorbed the operations of South Central Bell in 1992....
, which does business as AT&T Southeast, and was acquired as part of AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth
BellSouth
BellSouth Corporation is an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after the U.S...
. BellSouth Corporate headquarters was located in the Campanile building, also in Midtown.
Background
The company, then called Southern Bell, originally planned to build the parking deck for the tower one block further east at the corner of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Peachtree Street. This would have required the razing of the historic Fox TheatreFox Theatre (Atlanta)
The Fox Theatre , a former movie palace, is a performing arts venue located at 660 Peachtree Street NE in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, and is the centerpiece of the Fox Theatre Historic District....
which would have been an especially great loss to the city after the downtown Loew's Grand Theatre
Loew's Grand Theatre
Loew's Grand Theater, originally DeGive's Grand Opera House, was a movie theater at the corner of Peachtree and Forsyth Streets in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
was destroyed by fire in 1978. Tremendous opposition
Opposition (politics)
In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...
, protest
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
s, fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
, and petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
drives within the community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
prevented the Fox's demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
. Even Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
spoke out on behalf of the "Fabulous Fox". In the end, a complicated deal was struck to build the parking deck on an alternate site north of the main tower on West Peachtree Street.
The building has a direct entrance to the North Avenue
North Avenue (MARTA station)
North Avenue is an underground train station on the Red and Gold lines of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority rail system, named after the nearby North Avenue. The walls are made of white tile and painted with a mural of green hills, a blue sky, and clouds. It is among the busiest...
MARTA Statio
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting...
n, which is located at the southern end of the complex and was built concurrently with the building which is integrated with the skyscraper's foundation. In 2002, BellSouth completed construction of two additional mid-rise buildings adjacent to the tower to form its Bellsouth Midtown Center campus as part of its effort to consolidate office space around mass transit stations.
The architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s who designed the tower were Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
and Rosser International
Rosser International
Rosser International is an architectural firm formed from the merger of FABRAP and another Atlanta firm, Rosser White Hobbs Davidson McClellan Kelly.-Buildings:* AT&T Midtown Center* Turner Field* Arena at Gwinnett Center* Petersen Events Center...
, Inc. The general contractor for its construction was Beers Skanska, Inc. The building also served as a filming location for the 1993 science fiction action film RoboCop 3
RoboCop 3
RoboCop 3 is a science fiction action film, released in 1993, set in the near future in a dystopian metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, and filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the buildings seen in the film were slated for demolition to make way for facilities for the 1996 Olympics. Nancy Allen as...
, in which it was used as the setting for the headquarters of the evil mega corporation O.C.P the main antagonist organization in the RoboCop trilogy.
External links
- AT&T Midtown Center at AccessAtlanta