Friday, November 15, 2019

Football Counter-Programming 2019: Week 13


Did you miss me last week? (I hope at least someone noticed that I didn't post.) Maybe you felt a bit guilty as you watched college foootball, but you didn't quite know why?

Well, I hope to make up for it with a rollercoaster of a story about my . . . hometown . . . the great city of Tifton, Georgia.

It all centers around the story of the Town Terrace Motel--which I have written about in my digital sphere before. It has its own dramatic history long before I crossed paths with it. But the amount of news surrounding this mid-century hotel has really rocketed up in the month of November.

First--my brief connection. Lynda and I got married in 1995 and I had about six weeks between returning from our honeymoon and starting a new year of grad school at Georgia Southern University. So, Lynda and I had a brief residence at the Town Terrace before we packed up again and went back to Statesboro. I wrote about it on WWYG?! back in January 2009 and provided some additional photo information on Why Won't You Photo?! as well.

But recently, the Town Terrace has been in the news a LOT! I first heard about it via this post from a Tifton-based newsletter that I subscribe to. It seems that a Hollywood movie may be filmed in the Tifton area and they were scouting the Town Terrace for some location shooting. I thought that was cool and I thought that would be the end of it. But no.



I felt sad, because not only do I have a direct connection with the Terrace (and I hate the use of the nickname "Pink Motel"), but I've done my own modest historical research on these types of mid-century road accommodations and I didn't want to see a bit of it disappear. Still . . . if the location was in disrepair and in need of extensive renovation then maybe it was inappropriate to hold onto a husk of history for no real reason--especially if there wasn't a strong local desire to keep it up.

Over the next few days, some of my hometown Facebook friends began lamenting the news.  And it sort of felt "too little/too late".

And THEN . . . two Grapevine issues later I see THIS.


So now I really don't know what to think. (Honestly, my initial gut reaction was that someone set the fire on purpose to prevent the site from being completely demolished and slow down the building of the new townhomes . . . though that makes absolutely NO logical sense whatsoever.) But the twists and turns were getting really dramatic. What would happen to the movie shoot plans? 

But as of earlier this week, the news (maybe?) is good (possibly?). Because the Tuesday, November 12 issue of the Tifton Grapevine looked like this!


So . . . what is next? I have no idea. I don't know if saved is the correct adjective for what has happened right now. It is not slated for demolition at this time. It has one unit damaged by fire. It is still on the docket for December film shooting. But beyond that? No one knows. If it is going to remain a function place that retains its historic charm and serves the community, a lot of investment and repair needs to be completed. Otherwise, someone new is going to step in and tear it all down for a more modern money plan. 

I hope something good comes out of all of this attention. And if it does get torn down, I hope at the very least that the sign is saved.

And that is it for me this week. I hope you enjoyed this slice of true-life. And I hope you clicked on all of the links. But if you didn't, just remember. These past few days in the history of Tifton's Town Terrace are even more remarkable than whatever happened last week in that LSU-Alabama game.

Find something else to do besides watching college football!

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