Atlanta Constitution Building

The Atlanta Constitution Building, also known as the Georgia Power Atlanta Division Building, is located at the northwest corner of Alabama and Forsyth Streets in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, at 143 Alabama Street, SW. It is located in an area known as the "Heart of Atlanta" straddling the railroad gulch ("The Gulch"), "due to [its] proximity to the 'Zero Mile Post' which marked both the Southeastern terminus of the Western and Atlantic railroad and the city's earliest settlement". The former Atlanta Constitution Building was designed by Adolph Wittman and was located at the opposite corner of the intersection beginning in 1895.

The five-story Atlanta Constitution Building was constructed in 1947 and designed by Robert and Company at a cost of $3 million. The building housed the headquarters of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper during tenure of editor Ralph McGill until its consolidation with the Atlanta Journal when James C. Cox of the Journal bought the Constitution.

Expenses for the modern plant included “new presses, steel desks, marble corridors and every mechanical contrivance for publishing a modern newspaper in the shortest possible time.” Additionally, WCON, the Constitution's new radio station, was located on the top floor of the building. Retail space occupied the building's sloping base level. Upon moving in, Editor Ralph McGill expressed his desire that the Constitution's prestige should grow to match its new home.

The newspaper subsequently outgrew its building and moved in 1953. There was construction or remodeling undertaken the same year.Georgia Power moved into the building in 1955 until 1960, and many Atlantans paid their electricity bills at this downtown location. Georgia Power moved to its new location on 241 Ralph McGill Boulevard when the building was finished in 1981. The downtown building has been vacant since 1972. The building was placed on the 2003 List of Endangered Buildings by the Buildings Worth Saving Committee of the Atlanta Preservation Center.

The building is typical of the art moderne movement. Its exterior is composed of Flemish bond brick, marble and limestone. It has a flat terraced roof deck, typical of many structures of the modern movement, curved corners, a "prow-like" end and windows on all floors exude horizontal significance.

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