11/11/02

(Correction: McWhorters - NOT construction company - are symposium sponsors)

AU, MCWHORTERS SET SYMPOSIUM ON LINCOLN TOWNSHIP PROJECT

AUBURN -- The Auburn University School of Architecture's Urban Studio will be among the facilitators of a symposium on Thursday (Nov. 14) on the revitalization of downtown Lincoln, Ala.

The Symposium on Lincoln Township Project at the Birmingham Museum of Art is being sponsored by Earlon and Betty McWhorter of Anniston. Earlon McWhorter is a member of the AU Board of Trustees.

The symposium will begin at 11 a.m.

In addition to the AU School of Architecture's Urban Studio, other facilitators will include the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Georgia Tech School of Architecture and the Lincoln Historic Preservation Committee.

Discussions will center around how architecture, art, and landscape can make an economic, educational and cultural impact on a historic area that has been practically abandoned, and how the site might be brought back to life.

Old downtown Lincoln was viewed as a "ghost town" along the railroad tracks when it was announced that a new Honda plant would be located in the area. Now, the area has become a "boom-town," ranking as the second fastest growing area in Alabama.

Lincoln city officials and the Lincoln Historical Commission have set out to protect what they know are "historical properties" as the population began to grow.

Guest lecturers for the symposium include Lucy Lippard, an internationally known author, art historian and cultural critic; Mary Miss, a world-renowned sculptor and installation artist; and Jennifer Bloomer and Robert Segrest, architects who have recently opened a practice in Athens, Ga., that specializes in exploring relations between culture and architecture.

In addition, architectural students from AU and Georgia Tech will have their project models of specific landscape installations for an open-air market area and a senior citizens center on display during the day.

The symposium is free and open to the public.

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nov02:AU-lincoln