Omnivore - A slap in the face of John Portman

The venerable Foodie Buddha has posted a petition to “save the Varsity Jr.”

Owners of the restaurant at 1085 Lindbergh Drive, spawn of the downtown Varsity, want to demolish and rebuild it. But they have been unable to strike a deal with the City of Atlanta, which has denied them a building permit. The issue is driveway access.

Apparently, the restaurant has been battling with the city over this for several years and has finally decided to pack up its weenies and move to Dawson County. AJC reporter Christian Boone has the whole story.

What none of the stories about the closing mention is the fact that the Varsity Jr. was designed by John Portman (pictured), the same architect who remade Atlanta’s skyline with his design of Peachtree Center. As such, the Varsity Jr. is kind of an architectural icon and it’s somewhat surprising to me that it was slated for demolition at all. Actually, I like the design of the Varsity Jr. more than the design of Peachtree Center. But that’s another story.