Homeowners fight widening of Ashford Dunwoody Road

If you travel in the Perimeter area today, where I-285 meets Ashford Dunwoody Road, then you are probably accustomed to the traffic and the businesses, hotels, restaurants and apartments up and down Ashford Dunwoody. In 1980 there were still many single family homes on the road and only two lanes.

Ashford Dunwoody Road was widened in 1981. The announcement that the road would be widened came in 1980, nine years after the opening of Perimeter Mall. The community of Dunwoody opposed the widening, predicting commercial development would push its way into the residential areas.

The Dunwoody Homeowner’s Association started a petition and worked to stop the widening of Ashford Dunwoody Road and of Mount Vernon Road. Protestors gathered along the side of the road with signs. Attorney Bill Hurst filed a class action suit on behalf of the DHA. The suit asked for a court ordered injunction to halt the four-lane construction.

The DHA was successful in stopping the widening of Mount Vernon Road, except for the section from Ashford Dunwoody Road to the Fulton/DeKalb County line. They were also able to keep the speed limit from moving 35 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour. (“The Queen of Dunwoody: Remembering Community Visionary Joyce Amacher,” by Lynne Barfield Byrd)

Although the plan to widen Ashford Dunwoody Road was not stopped, DHA President Terry Huetter felt the efforts of the community to stop the widening did have a positive effect, saying “It probably wouldn’t have ended up being a parkway otherwise.” (Atlanta Constitution, April 23, 1981, “Homeowners cringe as Ashford-Dunwoody expands”)

Once the battle to stop the four-lane expansion of Ashford Dunwoody Road was lost, the Dunwoody Garden Club campaign to beautify the median began. The club decided to make the best of the situation, led by club president Joyce Amacher. (Dunwoody Crier, March 25, 1982, “Ashford Dunwoody median landscaping begun last week”)

After several conversations with Tom Moreland, Director of the Georgia State Highway Department, Joyce Amacher and Lynne Byrd were able to convince him to use funds intended for a concrete median towards landscaping.

Dunwoody Garden club members went to developers and tenants in the Perimeter area, local civic organizations, local businesses, and elected officials to raise the necessary funds. All property owners on Ashford Dunwoody Road between I-285 and Mt. Vernon Road were asked to participate.

County Commissioner Jean Williams assisted Amacher in obtaining $10,000 from the developers of the Ravinia-Hines Development. A donation of $10,000 was also secured from Lane Properties. State representative Bruce Widener was able to secure $16,000 from the state. Taylor and Mathis paid for the landscape plan, which was completed by Hickory Hill Landscaping.

The original landscaping plan called for a variety of maple and oak trees, along with Bradford pears, many types of shrubbery and 18,000 pieces of ground cover. The median is maintained today by the Perimeter Community Improvement District.

A DOT official predicted in 1981 that traffic along Ashford Dunwoody Road would increase 60 to 70% over the next twenty years.

Northlake Mall of 1971 and today

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Georgia’s Governor Jimmy Carter was invited to preside over the ribbon cutting ceremony of Northlake Mall when it opened in 1971. The newest mall for the Atlanta area was located near I-285 where Lavista Road, Henderson Mill Road and Briarcliff Road meet. Governor Carter designated it Northlake Mall Week in Georgia. Designating a special week for a mall is an indication of how important malls were at the time. (Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 6, 1971)

The Atlanta Constitution reported that the mall was a joint venture of Frank Carter, Ewell Pope of Atlanta, Trammel Crow of Dallas, Texas and Monumental Properties of Baltimore, Maryland. Frank Carter said plans for the mall had been evolving over several years following the success of Greenbriar Shopping Center.

Northlake was built on over 80 acres and included 100 merchants and over 1,000,000 square feet of space. That made it the largest mall in the metro area. The original anchor stores were Davison’s, Sears, and J. C. Penny’s.

A list of 1971 merchants included J. P. Allen, Baskin Robbins, Brooks Fashions, Butler Shoes, El Chico Restaurant, Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour, Florsheim Shoes, Hot Pants of Northlake Mall, The Limited, Merry Go Round, Muse’s, Record Bar, Spencer Gifts, Wicks N Sticks, Zachry and many more.

Beyond the mall was office space, which all together included 225 acres and a 17-acre lake.

Once Northlake Mall opened, it was the closest mall for my family. Looking over the list above brings back many memories. I remember having dinner at El Chico with my family and enjoying birthday parties at Farrell’s Ice Cream.

Who could forget the Merry Go Round clothing store in the era of bell bottoms and other 1970 styles? Hot Pants of Northlake! I don’t remember that one, but also fitting (no pun intended) for the time. Every mall had a record store, so of course Northlake had a Record Bar. Andrew of New York hair salon also was in the early mall.

The Atlanta Constitution October 6, 1971 issue, opening day for the mall, featured pages and pages of advertising and articles about the big stores and specialty shops of the mall. There were details about how to get to the mall from all directions using the “Perimeter Expressway” and articles about the plentiful parking.

Early malls had places to eat but not food courts. That phenomenon came along later.

Emory Healthcare offices at Northlake Mall, photo by Valerie Biggerstaff 2023

Back side of Northlake Mall, formerly part of Sears, today Emory Healthcare. Photo by Valerie Biggerstaff, 2023.

Like other malls around Atlanta, across Georgia and across the U.S., Northlake mall has evolved with the times. Stores have come and gone and many malls have a great deal of empty space. However, some of Northlake’s empty space is now occupied by Emory Healthcare.

An article in the October 2021 Atlanta Journal Constitution told of plans to convert much of the closed shop space to office space. The mall was 50 years old in 2021. New owners ATR Corinth Partners had purchased the mall in 2016.

Representative Bill Mitchell was there along with other state, county and city officials. He said he used to come to the mall frequently but had not visited in years.

Emory was happy with the location of Northlake, close to I-285 and Marta. This is another example of the evolution of malls in the Atlanta area. Malls are being repurposed for the needs of today, obviously a much changed world since 1971.