Design
Athens, Georgia, Tries To Save Some of Its R.E.M. History
The church where the band played their first show is hardly standing, but renovation costs are steep.
Music fans in Athens, Georgia, had a bit of a freak-out yesterday, when demolition crews got to work on one of the town's most famous buildings.
The former St. Mary's Episcopal Church, built in the late 19th century by a major Reconstruction-era business leader, was the site of R.E.M.'s first show. It was reduced to a steeple decades ago, but even that has struggled to stay upright of late. Yesterday, crews took down a wall as part of a stabilization effort.