New visitor center to be built at historic Oakland Cemetery

Historic Oakland Cemetery is breaking ground on the construction of a new visitor center on Tuesday.

The new 10,000-square-foot building will include a bigger museum store, a double-height atrium, classroom and event space, rentable meeting space, and offices, according to a news release.

Officials said the new building will also be more weatherproof and be host to more year-round programming.

“We are thrilled to be breaking ground on the Oakland Cemetery Visitor Center, which we know will transform our ability to share historic Oakland Cemetery,” said Dr. Richard Harker, executive director of Historic Oakland Foundation. “The new Visitor Center’s park land, event lawn, and plaza, alongside its indoor programmatic space, will allow us to truly serve the community in new and creative ways as we continue to work toward making Oakland Cemetery a community resource for all Atlantans.”

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The new facility will be “net zero,’ meaning it will produce more energy than it consumes, according to the release.

“Oakland Cemetery is a treasure for our city not only as a park and place of recreation but also as a historic site that allows us to acknowledge our history as we work to chart a more equitable future,” said Justin Cutler, Commissioner of the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation.

The building should be completed within the next two years, according to cemetery officials.

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