For the first time, a building on the Historic Macon Foundation’s successful Fading Five list is declared lost, but it is being replaced with an iconic industrial structure.

[Added to the list] is the coaling tower on Seventh Street. It was built in 1910 for the Central of Georgia Railroad, and Crook remembers as a child watching steam engines refuel with coal at the tower. The coal would move down a long chute that is still there, jutting from the tall building partly covered with vines..

“I just think it’s one of the most iconic buildings in all of Macon,” he said.

Ethiel Garlington, executive director of Historic Macon, said there has been no creative new use identified for the building. The goal is simply for the owner of the property, Transco Railcar, Inc., to not tear it down and maintain it as is. Crook said he believes from discussions with the company that Transco recognizes the historic importance of the building and will save it.

In 2018, the Historic Macon Foundation put the tower on its “Fading Five” list, which lists local historic properties at risk of being torn down. The property was threatened with demolition by neglect.

It wasn’t until 2022, when CW Development Holdings, LLC acquired the 22.52-acre land for an entertainment complex and vowed to preserve the Coal Tower within their plans for development, so it was taken off the “Fading Five” list.

Mike Ciabattoni, owner of CW Development Holdings, LLC, said acquiring the tower was the “cherry on top” of the $337,500 sale of the land.

A very popular TV show, “Tulsa King,” has also recently been onsite at the base of the tower to shoot a scene for season three which airs this fall, shedding some spotlight on the Coal Tower in the TV and film industry, Ciabatoni said. Ciabattoni is hopeful this wont be the last time the industry recognizes the unique value of the tower.