The East Point Historic Civic Block consists of three historically significant buildings and one memorial park in downtown East Point, Georgia, and is located within the parameters of East Point Street, Linwood Avenue, Church Street, and West Cleveland Avenue. East Point's City Hall, City Auditorium, New Deal Library, and Victory Park make up the Civic Block, which since 2011 has been the focus of both redevelopment interest and historic preservation efforts.
East Point City Hall
The East Point City Hall, built in 1930, completed in 1931 in a mixture of Colonial Revival and Antebellum styles, is one of the city's most distinct structures. Its white columned colonnade, sunburst eyebrow dormers, and cupolaed clock tower are displayed on the city's flag and seal. It houses the Mayor's office, original Council chambers, and several other city staff offices. A two-story annex was added to the rear of City Hall in the 1960s, matching the building's red brick construction, but greatly encroached upon the courtyard in between City Hall and the Auditorium.
East Point City Auditorium
Immediately behind City Hall is the East Point Memorial Auditorium, also known as the East Point City Auditorium, which was completed in 1931, matching the architectural style of City Hall. It features 1,500 seats with a balcony, palladian windows, quoined corners, decorative swags and medallions along the walls, and has a stage. Similar in size to the Little 5 Points venue, the Variety Playhouse, the East Point Auditorium has been the only venue of its size within two blocks of a MARTA train station. The City Auditorium has hosted city gatherings, stage productions, concerts, wrestling matches, and kindergarten and high school graduations. Up until 1934, the AME Atlanta Sunday School Association typically held its "City Wide, County Wide, Sunday School Mass Meeting" in the City Auditorium up until that year when the event was moved to the Wheat Street Baptist Church instead. In the early-2000s, several front rows of seats were removed to install a podium for City Council meetings.
Live music radio show
Various musical performers such as Jerry Reed, Charles Brown and his Rocking at Night Orchestra, the Clovers, Mr. Goggle Eyes, Billy Ford and his Tuneful Band, and the Count Basie Orchestra were among the artists who have performed at the East Point City Auditorium. In the early 1960s, the Georgia Jubilee weekly radio show was broadcast live from the East Point City Auditorium. The house band, the Dixie Playboys hosted artist including The Williams Brothers. In December 1961, Patsy Cline performed for a crowd of three hundred at the City Auditorium. Part of her performance was filmed for the Atlanta television show, the Dixie Jubilee.
1983-1984 renovation
Renovation on the Auditorium began in 1983 and was finished in 1984. Donors to the project had their names inscribed on brass plaques, which were affixed to the backs of the seats.
New Deal Library
The original East Point Library, also known as the New Deal Library, constructed in a Federal Revival-style in 1939, bears a brass plaque attesting to its construction as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (FEAPW) in 1939. (FEAPW was renamed the Public Works Administration shortly after the Library’s construction.) Almost all of the Library’s original features remain intact, including the dark wood bookcases, shelving, and Adam-style fireplace mantels. Other prominent features of the building are the Art Deco-style lighting fixtures. The Library operated until November 8, 1994, when city voters chose to make the East Point library a part of the Fulton County Library system. Soon after, the City closed the library and sold the books. In the mid to late 1990s, the Library was used as office space for the East Point Water Department, and as event space for staff holiday parties, and then later as storage.
Victory Park
Victory Park, dedicated to East Point citizens who died in service to the country, is in front of the Library. The Park, anchored on each side by large magnolias, is home to a number of memorials, naming East Pointers who died in battle. Old armory is interspersed among the memorials, old trees, period lighting and park benches. Victory Park’s first memorial was placed in the period 1920–1930, dedicated to those who died in World War I. Several other plaques were placed over the years, following wars involving the U.S. including Desert Storm. The Park was formally dedicated October 24, 1971.