Contact: Midge Yearley
404-688-3353, x14
midge@preserveatlanta.com – release, schedule & photos available by email

APC presents The Fifth Annual Phoenix Flies on March 10-31, 2007

Get an insider’s view of 31 historic venues through tours, lectures, & storytelling 

ATLANTA ( Feb. 1, 2007 ) – The Atlanta Preservation Center (APC) will present The Fifth Annual Phoenix Flies: A Citywide Celebration of Living Landmarks on March 10-31, 2007 . With 22 Preservation Partners, this award-winning event gives a fun and informative insider’s view of 31 historic venues through guided walking, trolley and bike tours; lectures and open houses; and a workshop. Most events are free.

“In 2007 we are expanding The Phoenix Flies from 10 days to three weeks so everyone will have an opportunity to participate in these exciting activities,” said Boyd Coons , APC’s executive director. “We are especially pleased this year that all but two of the events are free.”

This year the APC is welcoming five new Preservation Partners:

• Chastain Park Conservancy, which is sponsoring guided tours of the Chastain Park Amphitheatre

• Historic South-View Preservation Foundation, which is hosting tours of the cemetery where Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King Sr., Alonzo Herndon, John Wesley Dobbs and Graham Jackson Sr. are buried

• Savannah College of Art and Design, which is opening its two facilities – 1600 Peachtree St. and the Peters House – for tours

• Sylvester Cemetery Foundation, which is sponsoring tours with seven different themes in this East Atlanta cemetery, where Fiddlin’ John Carson is buried

• Trees Atlanta , which is offering a Cabbagetown Arboretum Tree Walk.

Other new activities include:

• Free guided bike ride through the city’s historic neighborhoods sponsored by the APC

• Free lecture and tour of the North Woods by the Piedmont Park Conservancy

• Free panel discussion, “Conversations on Civil Rights: The Atlanta Student Movement,” at the Atlanta History Center

• Concert by the Callanwolde Concert Band at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center

• Free guided walking tour of Civil War Atlanta sponsored by the Georgia Battlefields Association

• Free lecture and book signing by William Rawson Smith, author of Villa Clare: The Purposeful Life and Timeless Art Collection of J.J. Haverty at Rhodes Hall

• Free Open House and tours of the Margaret Mitchell House

• Free “Stroller Strut” for families at Grant Park by the Grant Park Conservancy.

The 2007 Preservation Partners are: Academy of Medicine, Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum, Atlanta History Center, Atlanta Preservation Center, Atlanta Urban Design Commission, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Chastain Park Conservancy, The Fox Theatre, Georgia Battlefields Association, Georgia State Capitol, Grant Park Conservancy, The Herndon Home, Historic Oakland Foundation, Historic South-View Preservation Foundation, Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District, Piedmont Park Conservancy, Rhodes Hall and the Georgia Trust, Savannah College of Art and Design, Sylvester Cemetery Foundation, Trees Atlanta, and Wren’s Nest House Museum.

For details, please visit The Phoenix Flies web site, www.phoenixflies.org or call the APC at 404-688-3353, ext. 11.

The Atlanta Preservation Center is non-profit membership organization that serves as the agency for coordination, knowledge, research and advocacy for preservation in the city. Founded in 1980, the center has worked to preserve more than 160 endangered residential and commercial structures, neighborhoods and landscapes. The center’s seven walking tours of historic neighborhoods and sites, school programs, workshops and The Phoenix Flies: A Citywide Celebration of Living Landmarks educate 9,000 students, residents and visitors a year about the value of protecting and reusing Atlanta’s landmark buildings. For more information, visit our Web site, www.preserveatlanta.com or call 404-688-3353.