ATLANTA — It's a building with ties to Atlanta's pop and music cultures going back decades. But a recent construction accident just brought part of the old Masquerade music venue tumbling down.
In its long and storied life, the Old Excelsior Mill has gone from a workplace to a venue for some of the biggest names in American music. Apparently, though, a construction accident aiming to convert the old mill back into something more work-friendly ended up causing serious damage instead.
"I kind of wanted to see it for myself," Shannon Byrne of Pine Lake said.
The amateur historian couldn't believe what she saw - and she's been documenting buildings like this in metro Atlanta for years.
"I've been fascinated by the rock, the stone that runs through our city," she said.
The granite she said, was quarried from Stone Mountain in the late 1800s. But, on Friday, the east wall of the old mill collapsed during construction. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Plans are in the works by two developers to transform the old venue into a mixed-use office space.
"I am still picking my jaw up off the ground," Byrne said. "I'm shocked. I'm kind of surprised."
For Scott Banks, who said he partied at the mill when it was Masquerade decades ago, it's not as big of a shock.
"Twenty years ago," he said. "I was surprised it was standing up then."\
The developers released a joint statement saying in part, they are "in the process of discovering exactly what happened, but preliminary information leads us to believe it was related to the excavation work."
Coro Realty and Southeastern Capital said the work was done according to an engineer's specifications.
"You trust construction companies to take great care of construction buildings," Byrne said. "What are they going to do with the stone? Will they incorporate it back in the rebuild? Will they incorporate it in other aspects of the city or the Beltline?"
The answer to those questions remains to be seen as they don't have a cause yet on what exactly made the collapse happen in the first place.
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