Having grown up in Druid Hills, I too remember Emory Village in the 1970s. I spent many afternoons of my childhood playing video games in Horton's, eating sandwiches at Hero's, and watching movies at the Emory Village theater (which, by the way, burned down some time in or after 1978, and which also tended to show second-run flicks like "Star Wars" and "Saturday Night Fever" rather than artsy foreign films). I have spent more than one snowstorm-stranded afternoon in Jagger's Tavern and can recollect countless lunches and dinners at the more recently defunct Lullwater Tavern. At these places the Emory crowd and the Druid Hills crowd (not necessarily one and the same) intermingled freely and comfortably, as they still do in the remaining places today.
What has always been appealing about the Village, to both the Emory and Druid Hills communities alike, has been its modesty. As Professor Bugge points out, most of the necessities of residential and college life are provided there: a pharmacy, a laundromat, a real grocery store (as opposed to some megalomaniacal super-store), coffee houses and several places to eat and get a good beer. It has a village "feel." It is also accessible, despite Emory's growth and overpopulation of the area. What exists in Emory Village is characteristic of many of the neighborhoods in Northeast Atlanta, such as Virginia Highlands, Clifton-McLendon, and Little Five Points, only better in that it has enjoyed a more stable existence and has not been overcome by fad-following partyers from the perimeter.
When I first read Professor Bugge's proposal, some of the suggestions were so incredible that I thought he was being sarcastic. The last thing that Emory Village and the surrounding community needs is a five-story, glassed-walled monument to shopping. Such a building would not only be horribly out of place, but it would cast an ugly shadow over the entrance to the University itself. This is Emory and Druid Hills, not Gwinnett Place. What Emory Village needs is at most a facelift, and perhaps some guidance as to what kind of businesses are needed there.
I would agree with Professor Bugge that the Village could do better. There are three pizza places and two coffee houses, but no local, indepedently-owned bookstore, or restaurant that doesn't double as a bar. A genuine New York-style deli would be nice too.
But several bookstores? One bookstore alone would probably saturate the market in the area. And to assert that moving the Emory Bookstore to a location in the village would make it more accessible, when all of the students are located on campus, is completely ludicrous. I also feel that many others will share my sentiments when I say that the Village does not need to open its doors to greater influx of commercial chains (such as Mail Boxes, Etc. and Ben and Jerry's), especially when such shops are already as close as walking distance from the campus.
It is clear that Professor Bugge's plan does not take into consideration that such a monstrous development would not draw sufficient numbers from Emory to sustain its existence, as history has shown that Emory's 15,000-member "sophisticated clientele" have let many a good business starve to death (e.g. Music Music Music). Such a draw would have to come externally, which would dwindle anyway once people realized that there isn't anywhere to park. But this plan also neglects resources already in existence at Emory, such as the Munroe Theatre. The last time I checked, Emory's theater was showing a single (often hackneyed, overplayed and mainstream) film three times on one day, once every two weeks, and charging admission to everyone. This is a sorry state for a movie theater on a campus of such national stature. Emory did not have a movie theater when the Village cinema was in operation. But now it does, and rather than pay to have someone build another theater off-campus, it should make a serious attempt at investing in its own.
Which brings up another sticky point. Who is going to pay for all of this? A building of the kind described by Professor Bugge, with its "faculty club with restaurant, lounge, and accommodations for overnight guests" and "art gallery catering to the low-end of the price range," would easily cost tens of millions, if not $100 million, to build. (Never mind the fact that Emory already owns a motel and is presently building a convention center. It also owns the Houston Mill House, which serves "white-tablecloth" lunches five days a week.) And let's not forget that we'll still have to buy off the present owners of the property. I wonder how much Everybody's and BP will want for their prime spots. Are Emory's pockets really this deep, or should the students be expecting sharper tuition increases and the academic departments budget cuts? In the most recent edition of the Wheel (Jan. 27), Executive Vice President John Temple is reported as saying that budget requests are already having to be "toned down," partly due to the operating costs of all of the magnificent structures recently built on campus. A major development project in the Village will most certainly have an impact.
Professor Bugge claims that "a lot of people" are interested in this project, enough that it qualifies as a "new mood." Without any real data or large-scale discussion of this issue, I am skeptical such broad support exists. No doubt some others in the high command in the faculty and administration share in this narcotic dream of high culture on Emory's front lawn. But I think faculty clubs and white-tablecloth events are better existing facilities on campus.
Keven Haynes is a graduate student in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.