The Lamar Building is a 17-story skyscraper in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...

. It was scheduled to be completed in 1916, but the Augusta Fire of 1916 forced crews to demolish the building and restart. It was finally completed in 1918. A penthouse level was added in 1976, designed by I. M. Pei. In July 2011, the architectural critic

James Howard Kunstler James Howard Kunstler (born October 19, 1948) is an American author, social critic, public speaker, and blogger. He is best known for his books ''The Geography of Nowhere'' (1994), a history of American suburbia and urban development, ''The Long ...

labeled it his "Eyesore of the Month", saying the addition is reminiscent of a

Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...

helmet. Pei's addition presaged the glass

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

he designed for The Louvre in Paris. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Fire insurance maps indicate a height of 165' (50 m) to the top of the roof at the 16th floor, just beneath the penthouse addition. It has been the tallest building in Augusta ever since it was built. The Marion Building stands next to the Lamar Building and has been called its "sister building". The Lamar Building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1979.

Restoration Efforts

After sitting vacant for many years, the building was sold in June 2021 to Albany, GA based developer Pace Burt. Burt, who has worked on multiple other historic renovation projects in the Southeast, has released plans for the building to be converted into a high-end multi-family development with just under 70 units.

References

External links

{{I. M. Pei, state=collapsed Buildings and structures in Augusta, Georgia G. Lloyd Preacher buildings National Register of Historic Places in Augusta, Georgia Skyscrapers in Georgia (U.S. state) Skyscraper office buildings in Georgia (U.S. state)