Georgia County Government - July 2008 - (Page 34)

COURTHOUSE continued from page 33 Although impressive and monumental to a degree, this building, like much of Bruce and Morgan’s work in Georgia, embodies a distinctly rural charm. Here is the reason for these prolific architects’ success in the South. They were able to fashion from the contemporary vocabulary of the day a comfortable, even pastoral, architecture, which satisfied that odd mixture of contradictions that made up the Southern psyche of the late 19th century. It was a public architecture tailor-made for a people of divided mind: a people who sought at once the prosperity of the modern age and the archaic traditions a bygone era; a people who desired monumentality in a public building but abhorred any hint of the symbolism of governmental power; a people who wanted to appear up to date, but at the same time, labored to preserve a distinctly rural and agrarian society and who immersed themselves in a deeply nostalgic mythology of the most shamelessly Romantic sort. The Romanesque Revival was the perfect vehicle for such dual symbolism. At its heart, it was the rural architecture of a feudal era, but with the addition of a little Queen Anne trim, buildings could sing distinctly modern songs in a comfortable home-spun way. Although some of the vocabulary here is that of H. H. Richardson, and to a lesser degree of Norman Shaw, the convoluted symbolism that the South evolved for these idioms could not have been farther from these masters’ original intents. ■ Neighborhood power lines are built underground all the time. High-voltage lines are a different story. Opposition to a new transmission line can spark support for installing it underground. What most people underestimate about underground is its oversized price tag. A recent cost estimate for a 1.3-mile section of underground line in Oconee County, for instance, was $16 million. That would have been about $1,300 for every EMC customer in the county, but using overhead lines will keep residents from paying this cost. Underground construction raises key questions: Who pays? Who beneﬁts? Do you raise rates or raise taxes? Underground is sometimes a solution in crowded cities or in short spans, but $1 billion projects, like one in Connecticut, are not for Georgia. Help us keep electricity reliable and affordable. If you’re thinking underground, think it over. $1,000,000 per mile ,000 $10,000 le per mi The Power of Cooperation Building and maintaining high-voltage power lines and substations for Georgia’s electric cooperatives. Geotechnical Environmental Geophysical Water Resources Materials Testing Special Inspections (770) 209-0029 www.unitedconsulting.com 34 GEORGIA COUNTY GOVERNMENT http://www.gatrans.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - June 2008

Georgia County Government - June 2008 Contents President’s Message County Matters Laurens, Treutlen and Wheeler Counties Work Together to Leverage Economic Development 2008 Hurricane Season Forecast to be Active GDEcD: Georgia Is Bolstering International Marketing Efforts U.S. Communities Announces Auto Parts Service Contract Energy Innovation Center Opens in Warner Robins Coweta County Uses Innovative Road Construction Techniques Counties & The Law: An Analysis of Ten Commandments Displays in Georgia Courthouses Georgia’s Grand Old Courthouses: Talbot County Extension News: Youth Summit Teaches Civic Engagement Research Corner: Train Me! NACo News: NACo Seeks Obesity Prevention Programs County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - June 2008

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