SCAD announces grand opening of rehabilitated Ivy Hall Oct. 3
Photo by: Chia Chiung Chong
Ivy Hall
Published: September 8, 2008
ATLANTA - The Savannah College of Art and Design announced the grand opening of Ivy Hall Oct. 3. After nearly two years of rehabilitation, planning and construction, the historic Midtown mansion at 179 Ponce de Leon Ave. N.E. will reopen as a cultural arts and writing center.
Rehabilitation of Ivy Hall began in April 2007, when the donation of the historic Edward C. Peters House from William Swearingen of S.D.H. Investment Corp. Inc., William Dunaway and Harry Hill became finalized.
The Peters House, called Ivy Hall by the Peters family, was designed by noted architect Gottfried L. Norrman in 1883. After Swearingen and Dunaway purchased the building, it was converted into The Mansion restaurant in 1973. After a debilitating upper-level fire in 2000, it remained vacant and unused until it was donated to SCAD.
Under the leadership of SCAD historic preservation specialist Bob Dickensheets, SCAD's adaptive rehabilitation of the home as a cultural arts and writing center for the college and the community has taken shape.
"This project was different than previous SCAD rehabilitation projects in that we are restoring not only a residence, but, in a way, the memory of one of Atlanta's earliest and most industrious families," Dickensheets said. "Ivy Hall will provide a very stimulating environment for learning. The residence will prove an excellent space for student and faculty interaction and an ideal setting for visiting authors and artists to share their professional experiences."
The opening celebration of SCAD's Ivy Hall will be generously sponsored by The Providence Group.
Named one of Kaplan's "25 cutting-edge schools with an eye toward the future," the Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Ga., and in Lacoste, France. Undergraduate and graduate degree programs also are offered online through SCAD-eLearning. The college offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Architecture, Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Fine Arts and Master of Urban Design degrees.
