(ATLANTA, Geor.) — Atlanta residents pushed back against a proposed plan to sell the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County at the full city council meeting Tuesday.
Mayor Andre Dickens has proposed selling the downtown detention center to Fulton County for $68 million. Under the proposed agreement, Atlanta would retain the right to repurchase the property for up to 50 years before it could be sold to another party, according to council records.
Michael Collins, who said he has worked with local criminal justice reform groups since moving to Atlanta in 2022, criticized Dickens for backing away from his previous plans for the Atlanta City Detention Center (ACDC).
Photo Credit: YouTube (ATL Channel 26)
“Let’s just think about what that means,” Collins said. “That means we are getting in the jail business… This came against the backdrop of a broken promise where [Mayor Dickens] had supported repurposing the Atlanta City Detention Center, ACDC, turning it into a diversion center.”
In 2019, while serving as a city council member, Dickens recommended the closing and repurposing of the facility. In 2022, as mayor, Dickens said, “we are not in the jailing business” while speaking during a public safety committee meeting, the Atlanta Journal - Constitution reported.
“It’s happening behind closed doors,” Collins said. “In a few hours, the mayor is going to walk in legislation affirming the sale, and I encourage a level of scrutiny and opposition from this body.”
The proposed $68 million sale still requires approval from the Atlanta City Council and would keep the facility in use as a detention center rather than repurpose it for other community uses.
Devin Barrington-Ward of Communities Over Cages ATL also criticized Dickens for moving forward with the sale despite his previous support for closing and repurposing ACDC.
Photo Credit: YouTube (ATL Channel 26)
“I want to be very clear with the mayor,” Barrington-Ward said. “You may want your legacy to be affordable housing, transportation, and the environment, but your legacy is Cop City. It is mass incarceration, and it is police surveillance. And we will never ever let you run away from that.”
“If you sell this building to Fulton County, let my words be a warning: history will be the judge,” Barrington-Ward, said.
The meeting also included pushback from a property owner over the city’s effort to condemn five properties it has identified as blighted.
On August 25, five properties went before the city council’s Community Development and Human Services Committee. The council unanimously passed the resolutions recommending that the full City Council move forward with the condemnation of the following properties:
533 English Avenue NW
748 Neal Street NW
293 Sunset Avenue NW
699 Joseph E. Boone Boulevard NW
2795 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway NW
James Arpet, who owns the properties at 699 Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and 293 Sunset Avenue, told the council that neither property meets that description.
Photo Credit: YouTube (ATL Channel 26)
“I was approached by a law firm that said they were going to condemn my property,” Arpet said. “They offered me pennies on the dollar for it and said that it would come to state court condemnation if I did not agree to sell it to them.”
The council’s passing of the condemnation resolutions does not instantly transfer ownership but does authorize city staff to begin the formal condemnation process, including appraisals and property owner notifications.
To add to or correct information in this report, please contact me at mia.s@lead4earth.org.
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