In-person
This Jane’s Walk, taking place in Downtown Decatur, focuses on themes of art, architecture, history, and culture.
Join Gene Kansas, founder and CEO of Gene Kansas | Commercial Real Estate, and Helen McGaughy, the agency’s Project Associate and Agent, as they lead a colorful walking tour through Downtown Decatur. The walk begins at Decatur’s Blair Building: a unique and historically significant, 1939 Streamline Moderne Art Deco property that boldly went pink! (You’ll see what we mean!)
After some history and a behind the scenes tour at The Blair, we’ll stroll over to Agnes Scott College to see Buttrick Hall, a fine example of Collegiate Gothic architecture on the famed, all-women, liberal arts campus.
Next, we’ll hop on the Decatur PATH trail for a quick walk over to the circa 1891, historic train depot – where award-winning Kimball House restaurant resides – before popping over to some Jane Jacobs-loving retail featuring OPO Coffee for a cup of cold brew or whatever your heart desires . . . on Gene and Helen!
The Details
Distance of Walk: ~ 1 mile
Getting There: You can find public parking in or near Decatur Square, or you can arrive by MARTA. The Blair Building is just half a mile away from the Decatur Square MARTA station!
Accessibility: This walk covers mostly paved terrain, but it is not fully wheelchair accessible.
What to wear and bring: Wear comfortable shoes for walking, don some pink if you like, and come ready to have fun!
Registration
Jane’s Walks are free to attend, but registration is required. Please click the link below to save your spot!
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Jane’s Walk is an annual global festival honoring the legacy of urbanist, activist, and writer Jane Jacobs with free, citizen-led walking tours through the neighborhoods that lend so much character to our cities.
The festival promotes civic engagement and encourages leaders and participants to share stories about their communities and use walking as a means of connecting with their neighbors.
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Gene Kansas
In his 25+ years in Atlanta commercial real estate — and inspired by a colorful, deep-fried, parade-filled, culturally rich upbringing in New Orleans, LA — Gene Kansas has garnered a reputation as a champion of historic preservation, adaptive reuse, community building, and storytelling through the built environment. Each Gene Kansas project aims to blend an appreciation of culture and history with creative, responsible, and vital refashioning that brings new relevance to space and how it is used by clients, neighborhoods, and the city. The founder and CEO of Gene Kansas | Commercial Real Estate, Gene leads with passion and purpose, with the ability of looking forward and a mindset of giving back. Representing the creative and cultural side of commercial real estate in Atlanta, GK|CRE helps companies buy, sell, lease and develop. Company projects include the historic preservation of the Atlanta Daily World Building, leadership in creating the John Lewis HERO Mural and District V Honor Mural, the preservation of the VA-HI Building, the adaptive reuse of the Southern School Book Building where Constellations is proudly constituted, and the recent preservation of the Blair Building.
Helen McGaughy
Helen's official title at Gene Kansas | Commercial Real Estate is Project Associate and Agent, but her coworkers know her better as “the Renaissance woman,” her fond moniker around the office. A true historic preservationist, Helen supports various GK|CRE properties by focusing on historic research, creative plans, development, and property management, and as a broker, she specializes in preservation and adaptive reuse projects. She grew up in Atlanta surrounded by the city’s many historical sites, quickly becoming an admirer of its earliest architecture (Glenn House); historic neighborhoods (Grant Park, Inman Park); and iconic adaptive reuse projects (namely The Tabernacle, a 1911 church-turned-concert venue downtown). Today, Helen focuses on preservation and adaptive reuse and takes part in maintaining, reimagining and developing historic Atlanta structures, just like the ones she admired as a child.
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The Blair Building
215 Church Street Decatur, GA
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MODA reserves the right to cancel a program if the minimum enrollment requirements are not met.
If you need to cancel your plans for any reason, we kindly request that you notify us 48 hours prior to the event start.
By doing so, we can release your seat to another individual interested in joining us for this Jane’s Walk!
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Email Mary at maryk@museumofdesign.org with any questions.