MACON, Ga. — For more than a century, a coal tower on Seventh Street has been part of Macon's skyline, but the tower could go the way of the steam train and the sleeping car.
"The coal tower is of course a very iconic structure in Macon, everybody knows about it," Jim Goolsby said.
Goolsby has lived in Macon for years.
His parents and grandparents worked with Central of Georgia Railroads.
He says that's when he saw the beauty of the coal tower firsthand.
"There was a huge demand for coal and Macon was one of the main points along the central Georgia railway, being the place where maintenance was done on most of the trains between Atlanta and Savannah," Goolsby said.
He says the tower was built to refill coal for busy rail yards.
"The coaling station is about all that's left of the Central Georgia railway," he added.
"It's probably one of the most-photographed spots in Macon because it's so unique and funky," Ethiel Garlington said.
Ethiel Garlington is the executive director of historic Macon. and he says the group put this building on its 2018 Fading Five list.
"This is probably one of the most unusual places that we've put on the Fading Five list, but everyone we've talked to, well, they get it," Garlington said.
According to an engineer's letter to Bibb County, parts of the tower are now structurally unsound and should be removed, not replaced.
"The wooden frame building that has the machinery that operates the coal elevator is very rotten and decayed and at risk of falling in. It is not a safe place to go into," Goolsby said.
Kornegay Engineering also said the structure used for loading and unloading railroad cars with coal should be removed unless the city decides to keep it.
Bibb County is discussing whether to locate a park at the site on Seventh Street, south of downtown.
Garlington says he is grateful that these changes were suggested and just wants the building to be stabilized.
According to Historic Macon, the tower was built in 1910 but hasn't been used to store coal since 1965.