SERI in Georgia: highlights of a proposal to the Energy Research and Development Administration for locating the Solar Energy Research Institute in Georgia

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SERI IN GEORGIA
Highlights of A Proposal to the Energy Research and Development Administration
for Locating the Solar Energy Research Institute in Georgia
Submitted by the State of Georgia for
SOLAR CONSORTIUM
Ebasco Services Incorporated General Motors Corporation Georgia Institute of Technology A. O. Smith Corporation Sverdrup & Parcel and Associates Westinghouse Electric Corporation

GEORGIA-A Plan That Will Succeed

As we move into the last quarter of the 20th century, one of our major goals is finding new energy resources. The development of solar energy is one of the more viable avenues at our disposal for solving the energy problems of the United States and the world.
The concept for the proposed Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) is that it should support and complement the total solar energy program. We agree completely with a statement made recently by Dr. Bob Hirsh, Assistant Administrator of the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), regarding the purpose of SERI. He said, "It is to help establish an industrial base, because the bottom line in solar energy as in all our energy programs, is to get the work out of the Universities and laboratories into industry and begin to stamp out usable things ... to help us foster widespread use of solar technology."
Over the past several years, Georgia has emerged as a national leader in solar energy research and development. Atlanta has a burgeoning commercial solar energy industry already in existence, with approximately 20 firms specializing in the application of solar technologies. Most importantly, Georgia Tech has the most extensive solar energy program in the country.
Because of our existing industry, our widespread interest in solar energy, and a desire to further contribute to the development and application of alternate energy systems, I triggered a series of coordinated efforts to locate SERI in Georgia. An eightmember Commission was created on July 10,
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1975, to determine the best possible site for locating SERI within the State. The Commission, after consultation with ERDA officials, sent out a request for site proposals throughout the State. Georgia was the only State to issue such a request to determine the best available potential sites for SERI. The fact that the Commission received and evaluated over 70 proposals involving well over 100 sites throughout the State demonstrates clearly the existence of widespread interest by Georgians in solar energy.
After receiving the final guidelines from ERDA in March, 1976, the Commission sought refinements in those site proposals that met basic requirements for SERI. At that time, I expanded the Commission's responsibility to include the most important task of determining the best possible manager-operator for SERI. After a thorough examination of all alternatives, the Commission created a new consortium of talents which ERDA will need to best operate the Institute. Because of the exhaustive democratic process our Commission utilized in preparing the Georgia application, I am confident that our proposal in every way meets or exceeds the requirements promulgated by ERDA for the Solar Energy Research Institute.
As further evidence of Georgia's interest and commitment to solar energy research, I initiated and was successful in securing the passage of legislation providing major incentives for the development and commercial distribution of solar energy systems. These laws exempt solar hardware from sales, use and property taxes, and, more importantly, from such taxes on production
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equipment for these systems.
As a demonstration of regional interest in solar energy and Georgia's efforts, the Governors of Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi have formally endorsed our proposal and urged that SERI be located in the Southeast - specifically, in Georgia.
The Solar Energy Research Institute would be operated in Georgia by the Solar Consortium Corporation (SOLCON), a new organization formed solely for this purpose. The consortium would be comprised of six nationally known organizations dedicated to the goal of developing and commercializing competitive and environmentally acceptable solar energy systems.
The proposed Georgia manager-operator represents industrial, design, service, utility and educational activities which provide for a balanced mix of talents and viewpoints, backed by extensive resources of personnel and facilities located throughout the United States.
Members of the Georgia Consortium are:
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OFTECHNOLOGY - One of the Nation's largest technical universities with extensive solar research experience unsurpassed by any university in the country.
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION - The Nation's 20th largest manufacturing firm, specializing in high-technology energy systems, including solar energy devices.

THE ROUND TOWER WITH ATLANTA'S DOWNTOWN SKYSCRAPERS IN BACKGROUND 5

GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION The General Motors Assembly Plant in Atlanta assisted in the development of the Georgia proposal. The Atlanta plant is a part of the nationwide network of the General Motors Assembly Division, headquartered in Warren, Michigan. General Motors is the second largest corporation and the largest major manufacturer and marketer of mass-produced consumer products in the United States.
A. O. SMITH CORPORATION -A manufactu~er of hardware which includes solar water heaters and biological energy converters.
SVERDRUP & PARCEL AND ASSOCIATES, INCORPORATED - An internationally recognized operating architect/engineering firm involved in solar design, and the manager-operator of two large national research centers.
EBASCO SERVICES INCORPORATED - One of the Nation's largest engineering and construction firms, specializing in energy systems.
The Consortium already has identified the 28 top-level staff members who would be responsible for directing the solar research and is geared to start organizing prior to January 3, when SERI would officially start operations. Many of the proposed staff members are already employed by various consortium members and have long years of accomplishments and dedication to carry into the new research project. The switch in jobs would be simple and quick.
The initial facility for SERI is a modern
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20-story suspended round tower in midtown Atlanta. A six-month option secured by the State is now in effect on the entire building to ensure occupancy on January 3, 1977. The option specifies a five-year lease through 1981. The initial office space is a fiveminute walk from all Georgia Tech facilities and is only a few blocks from the beginning of what is traditionally labeled downtown Atlanta.
To complement the initial facility, the State Board of Regents has agreed to construct a $2.5 million, 50,000 square-foot laboratory and office facility for SERl's use on the Tech campus. This will be the first facility in the world designed specifically for solar energy research. A construction contract will be let as soon as SERI is awarded to Georgia, with occupancy slated before the end of 1977. The laboratory will be made available to SERI at no cost, except for util ities and services such as security and maintenance.
The future SERI site is proposed to be located in the planned community of Shenandoah, a HUD new town, which is a 40minute drive by Interstate highway from the initial facilities. Only two traffic lights must be encountered between the two sites since the Round Tower is only one block from Interstate 85, which borders the future site of Shenandoah.
Besides the advantages, there are many other reasons why I think Atlanta is an ideal location for SERI.
The Southeast is a prime market for implementation of the SERI research because it is the "growth center" of the United

States and will be for the remainder of this century, perhaps right on into the 21 st century.
Between 1960 and 1975, the Southeastern population increased 27 percent compared to 18.4 percent for the rest of the country. This growth trend is expected to continue in the near future.
Southeastern manufacturing employment increased 42.1 percent during this 15-year period as compared to 9.2 percent for the rest of the country.
We showed a 71.7 percent increase in non-farm employment as compared to 41.9 percent for the nation.
Southeastern retail sales outstripped the national pace by 231.6 to 154.2 percent, and our buying income increased 237.6 percent compared to 173.1 percent.
We bel ieve that the various elements of Georgia's pro~~sal, when viewed as a total package, will rank our proposal as second to none.
We have a six-team consortium that represents all of the diverse elements that could possibly be desired for such a research function, and all have previous solar energy experience.
We have in the Georgia Institute of Technology, a member of the consortium, a university that is. already the Nation's leader in solar research.
We have an attractive initial site that is ready for occupancy and is close to all of the amenities of downtown Atlanta.

We have a location for a future site that is a "new town" being developed in a suburban setting according to an elaborate plan that is emphasizing heating and cooling with solar energy in a totally integrated energy system.
We have in Greater Atlanta a diversity of cultural, recreational and educational interests to please the most exacti ng and d iscerning of tastes.
We have a variety of urban, suburban and rural neighborhoods with distinctive characteristics and patterns to allow wide choices of living by SERI officials and employees.
We have a transportation pattern that provides domestic air service that is probably unequalled by any city in the United States, and ground transportation that serves as the hub for the entire Southeast.
We have a climate in Atlanta that is ideal for solar energy research with four distinct seasons that lend themselves to the demonstration and commercialization of solar energy without excessive capital investments.
With all of these advantages, buttressed by more than $8 million in various capital cost saving commitments by the State and private industry, we think SERI would flourish in Atlanta and would provide an exciting new chapter in cooperative research to develop effective alternative energy systems.
George Busbee Governor of Georgia
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SI~I~1 I I GI~ttl~t;IA

A Unique Blend of Talent, Sites, and Services

SERI will be managed and operated in Georgia by SOLCON, a Georgia corporation which will be formed solely for this purpose. All plans have been completed, key personnel have been named, and the Consortium is prepared to begin operations on January 3, 1977.
The Georgia manager-operator represents all of the diversity of expertise necessary for a full-scaled solar energy research and commercialization effort. SOLCON's industry, engineering, management, marketing and academic talents are backed by extensive resources of personnel and facilities throughout the country.
SOLCON Members
General Motors Corporation - The General Motors Assembly Plant in Atlanta assisted in the development of the Georgia proposal. The Atlanta plant is one of 18 plants in the nationwide network of the General Motors Assembly Division. The division is supported by the Corporate Research Laboratories and the Manufacturing Development Division. Should SERI be located in Georgia, it is expected that Gen-
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eral Motors will participate in SOLCON's management of SERI.
Ebasco Services, Incorporated - Headquartered in New York, Ebasco Services is one of the Nation's oldest and largest engineering and construction firms, serving the electric utilities and other energy-intensive ind ustries. Over the past 70 years, Ebasco has completed over 800 power plants throughout the world, utilizing fossil-fueled, nuclear and hydroelectric systems.
Sverdrup & Parcel and Associates, Incorporated - A St. Louis-based company, Sverdrup & Parcel is an internationally operating architectural and engineering firm. One of its subsidiaries, ARO Inc., has operated the Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee for many years. The company also operates facilities of the NASA Ames Research Center in California.
A. O. Smith Corporation-A manufacturer of components for over 100 years, this Milwaukee-based company has extensive distribution channels to the construction industry. For example, the company manufactures and markets solar hot water heaters and bioconversion systems.

Georgia Institute of Technology - A major educational institution, Tech has the Nation's most extensive graduate and undergraduate programs in engineering, science, management and architecture. Georgia Tech is an internationally known leader in solar energy research with projects covering every aspect of solar conversion and utilization, including research in heating and cooling, process heat for industry, central power plants, wind, bioconversion, agricultural application, and solar energy materials.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation Based in Pittsburgh, Westinghouse is internationally famous as a manufacturer of electric power systems of all types. In addition, the corporation is identified with a large research and development program, including ongoing contracts in solar energy.
Thus, to assist in our Nation's effort in solar energy, Georgia sought the best in the public and private sectors and merged these talents in a constructive, cooperative, manageable way. SOLCON possesses the skills and tools from conceptualization to design to experimentation to con-

struction and mass production to make solar energy systems part of the mainstream of American life.
SOLCON Organization
The chief executive officer of SOLCON will be the Director of SERI. The Board of Directors of SOLCON will be composed of one member from each of the participating organizations plus the SERI Director and Deputy Director, bringing the total voting membership of the Board to eight. Provisions for adding an electric utility company and another educational institution at a later date could expand the total voting membership to 10. The Governor of Georgia, or his designee, will be an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Board.
It is presently planned that the initial Chairman of the Board will be Dr. George F. Mechlin, Vice President, Research and Development, Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
In cooperation with ERDA, the SERI Director will appoint to a Technical Advisory Committee national experts and leaders who
9

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A. O. SMITH
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GENERAL MOTORS

Warren, Mich.

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SVERDRUP & PARCEL r St. Louis

EBASJ;(
New York City
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WESTINGHOUSE Pittsburgh

GM ASSEMBLY DIVISION Atlanta

SOLAR CONSORTIUM MEMBERS REPRESENT A NATIONAL DIVERSITY

can provide guidance in areas of importance to SERI. Members of the Committee will be approved by the SOLCON Board and serve three-year terms with one-third of the members being appointed each year.
SOLCON Personnel
The organizational chart developed for SOLCON includes a Director, Deputy Director and five Assistant Directors for Research, Commercialization, Projects, Field Stations and Administration. The Assistant Director, Research, will be responsible for all functional types of research in the solar area. Key managers will be responsible for each of the five ways by which solar energy can be utilized - thermal conversion, ocean thermal conversion, photovoltaic conversion, wind energy conversion and bioconversion.

Dr. Thomas E. Stelson, who served as Chairman of the Site Selection Commission in Georgia and organized the six participating firms into the Solar Consortium, will serve as Director of SERI. Dr. Stelson has been one of the prime architects of Tech's international prominence in solar energy research. He currently is Vice President for Research and Professor of Civil Engineering at Georgia Tech.
For the past 25 years, Dr. Stelson has directed research, taught engineering and served as a consultant to numerous companies and governmental agencies, including the National Academy of Sciences.
Among Dr. Stelson's technical fields of interest are the utilization of applied mechanics in the solution of problems in foundations, hydraulics, and structural engineer-

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ing, transportation, fluid mechanics, soil mechanics, solid mechanics, systems and education. He has published many books and periodicals in areas of engineering and education.
The Deputy Director will be Dr. J. Leith Potter, who is presently serving as Deputy Director of the Von Karman Facility (VKF), Arnold Engineering Development Center, Tullahoma, Tennessee. In that capacity, he shares management of 600 employees and is accountable for planning comprehensive research, technical forecasting and facility improvement programs. He also serves on the Technology Policy Committee of AEDC.
Formerly Chief of the VKF Aerospace Division, Dr. Potter was responsible for solar simulation; aeroballistics testing; radiation sensor tests; tests of space hardware; impact, vibration and acceleration testing; and research on space simulation, thermophysics, low-density flows, rocket plume and wake observables, interior and exterior ballistics and instrumentation. He has 32 years of experience in research, test facility development and management.
A comprehensive effort was undertaken by SOLCON to find the most qualified persons for the top 28 positions in SERI. Many of them have been selected from within organizations comprising SOLCON and represent many years of experience for the position to which they have been selected. In addition, over 900 applications were received in response to nationwide advertising. Clearly, the attractions of an Atlanta location for SERI provides enormous manpower resources for solar energy research programs.
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Initial Facilities
SERl's initial facilities will be in the City of Atlanta near the downtown shopping, commercial, and financial area. The administration headquarters is a modern office building of unusual and eye-catching design. Built in 1969, it is a 20-story, suspended tower which has been nationally and internationally praised for its architectural uniqueness and beauty. Since the tower is only a half block west of the Peachtree Street ridge, it is easily seen from many vantage points and is readily identified on the skyline. Signs placed on its turban are recognizable from great distances, and permission has been obtained from the lessor to replace the "C & S" signs with appropriate ones identifying the building as "SERI." The commercial value of such signs on this building has been esti mated to be $80,000 per year. (See accompanying picture.) Because of its unusual design and location, the tower will quickly and easily become recognized as the national headquarters for SERI.
The facility was built by the Citizens & Southern National Bank for its own use and is still owned by the bank. It is available only because the bank needed expansion room and moved its operations into larger quarters.
So ERDA might take advantage of this rare opportunity, the State of Georgia has leased th is spectacu lar bu iId ing for the period of July 1 - December 31, 1976 at a cost of $180,000 and has an option that will allow SERI to rent the building at a cost below current market value for a period of five years beginning January 3, 1977.

PROPOSED INITIAL FACILITY AS ARRANGED BY PREVIOUS OCCUPANT

The tower has a doughnut-shaped floor plan. Each floor has essentially the same plan with nearly 9,000 square feet of usable space per floor, a total of 121,140 square feet to be leased by SOLCON. Since the exterior ring of each floor is unobstructed, it can be partitioned as desired for offices or for laboratory floor loads of 50 pounds per square foot or less.

Other attractive features of the SERI Tower include:
The connecting seven-story parking garage which has 347 parking spaces available. The walkway between the building and the garage is covered and provides protection from inclement weather and security for employees.

In addition to the office space itself, the lease provides for display space in the adjoining banking facility. Approximately 900 square feet of display area has been used for art shows and other exhibits. This space can be used by SERI for displays to acquaint the general public with its solar energy activities.

ROUND TOWER AND TECH

The C & S Round Tower, proposed initial

home of SERI, with the Georgia Tech

campus in the background across Interstate

Highways 75/85. The tall marble tower to

the left is the national headquarters for Life

of Georgia. The building next to it, extreme

left, is the Stouffer Inn, a new 500-room

ho~.

O~rl~

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A heliport is located on top of the Tower to facilitate quick and easy air transportation.
A large cafeteria on the entrance level with the capacity to serve 200 people, and the Commerce Club North, an exclusive restaurant offering a breathtaking view of Atlanta's skyline.
The office tower is well located with respect to surface transportation. The Atlanta downtown connector (1-75/85) is one and one-half blocks west of the building, and there are major north-south and east-west surface streets adjacent to and one block away from the building. Nine bus routes and over 1,500 buses daily stop within one block of the building. During morning and evening rush hours, buses run every three to five minutes on the major routes. In addition to the expressway (interstate) system, major surface streets radiate from downtown Atlanta and provide easy access to the building by automobile. Most of Atlanta's major hotels and convention centers are within easy walking distance of the tower. The Atlanta Airport is approximately 10 miles southwest on 1-85, en route to the proposed future site.
The SERI Tower is ideal for offices and initial laboratory operations. To complement the administrative headquarters, the State of Georgia, through the University System's Board of Regents, has authorized a $2.5 million laboratory on the Georgia Tech campus within walking distance of the SERI Tower. Architectural design is underway, and a construction contract will be let as soon as SERI is awarded to Georgia. The laboratory will be made available for SERl's use at no cost ex-
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DRAWING OF PROPOSED SERI LABORATORY AT TECH
cept for utilities and services such as security and maintenance.
In all, the SERI heavy laboratory facility at Tech will have 50,000 square feet - of which 30,000 will be in flexible laboratory space and 20,000 in office and auditorium space. The laboratory will also include open-span dimensions of 25 to 30 feet and an extensive high-bay area with a minimum height of about 35 feet. MOST IMPORTANTLY, this laboratory will be the first in the world designed and built specifically for solar energy research. The laboratory space will be completed before the end of 1977 in plenty of time forthe initiation of the research program.

Future Site
SERl's future home will be located on the edge of Greater Atlanta in Shenandoah, a 7,000 acre planned "new community" being assisted by the Community Development Corporation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A population of 745,000 lives within a 45-minute drive of Shenandoah.
Shenandoah is only a 40-minute drive from downtown Atlanta on Interstate 85; 25 minutes from the Hartsfield International Airport, the second busiest in the world, and 20 minutes southwest of Atlanta's Perimeter Highway (1-285), a 63-mile highway which encircles the city.

Shenandoah has offered options on two future sites for SERI at no cost. The prime site is 520 acres and adjoins Interstate 85. Another site contains 720 acres and is an alternate choice. Each site contains at least 300 usable contiguous acres which are well suited for the facilities and experimentation envisioned for SERI.
The State Department of Natural Resources has already conducted a detailed environmental impact assessment on each of the two proposed sites. These intense studies, which meet all the requirements of NEPA, concluded both sites were environmentally acceptable.
Shenandoah offers unique advantages for the future site because the town, as planned, will become a truly integrated energy community, utilizing a mix of alternative energy systems to meet its needs.
Shenandoah will include diverse industries, some of which will be suitable for demonstrating various solar energy devices. This provides a tremendous opportunity for custom designing and testing solar systems on-site and/or harnessing them to conventional sources that can service the entire community.
Many such demonstrations have already begun. For example, a solar-powered community center funded by ERDA and scheduled to be completed in November of 1976, is within walking distance of the entrance to the proposed future SERI site. The building will be the world's largest facility designed to utilize solar energy hardware. Also, Shenandoah's first residential area has among the model homes a solar house fi-
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SERI LOCATIONS

Map of Region

Around Atlanta

Showing Locations

ATHENS

of Initial Facility and Future Site

\

and Other Features

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nanced by a grant from HUD (one of the first five HUD solar houses to be completed in the U.S.).
Thus, research and demonstration need not be confined to the 200 acres of the SERI site designated for "outdoor experiments." It
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can also be performed in the immediately adjacent residential, commercial and industrial areas of the new town. Consequently, there are probably as many opportunities for realistically testing various aspects of solar energy in Shenandoah as in any other single location in the United States.

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Over $8 Million Worth of Financial Advantages

In support of its proposal to locate SERI in Georgia, and as additional evidence of the State's commitment to the development of alternative energy resources, the State has put together a package of financial advantages that would provide savings well in excess of $8 million to ERDA. These proposed savings are a composite of financial commitments by the State and private industry.
In order to launch the operation of SERI on January 3,1977, the State of Georgia has obtained options on the initial office facility from July 1 through December 31,1976, at a cost of $180,000 to the State. This action protects the property until ERDA can exercise a five-year option to lease.
As an inducement, the State has arranged for the property owner to provide the space rent-free for the first four months of its occupancy in 1977. This amounts to a onetime savings to ERDA of $189,000 and would be passed on through a rental proration over a 12-month period.
In addition, an allowance of $25,000 has been made by the owner toward the installation of a SERI display or exhibit in the adja-
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cent branch bank. A heavy flow of bank customers would give the display or exhibit high visibility.
Also, the building owner has agreed to replace large "C&S" signs on the turban of the building with "SERI" signs. Because the building is only one and one-half blocks from Interstates 75 and 85, the signs can be seen from long distances. The commerical value of these signs has been estimated to be $80,000 per year.
As a complement to the office tower, the University System's Board of Regents, which operates the 32 State-sponsored colleges and universities, has agreed to construct a $2.5 million, 50,000 square-foot, heavy laboratory facility at Georgia Tech for use by SERI. The Regents authorized the new facility at its June 1976 meeting and will let a construction contract immediately upon the announcement that SERI will locate in Georgia. Architectural design, valued at $85,000, is now underway. The laboratory itself will be within one-half mile of the SERI Tower and will be serviced free of charge by Georgia Tech buses as determined necessary by SERI.

The Shenandoah Development, Inc., the developer of Shenandoah, has made financial proposals that would save SERI several million dollars in land and construction costs for locating in Shenandoah.
The company has offered to provide, free of charge, a 520-acre site valued at more than $4 million for SERI's future location. A nearby alternate site of 720 acres, with an estimated value of $2.5 million, is also available free of charge should ERDA determine that it is a more suitable site.
In addition, the owners of Shenandoah have agreed to allocate up to $1.5 million toward the construction of the first SERI office/laboratory at the future site, should ERDA exercise the future site option prior to January 1,1978.
The building, which Shenandoah suggests could be equipped with a solar heating and cooling system, would be operated in addition to the downtown offices and the complementary laboratory at Tech during the early years of SERI. By constructing the building at an early date, it would facilitate a transition from the initial facility to the future

site and reduce capital costs.
At the request of the SERI Site Selection Commission, a team of technical specialists from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conducted separate environmenta:! impact studies on two tracts of land for the future site referred to as the Primary Site (520 acres) and the Alternate Site (720 acres). The team of technical personnel that conducted the studies was made up of the following professional disciplines: engineering, geology, biology (flora and fauna), chemistry, physics, archaeology, economics, meteorology and environmental specialties.
When evaluating the costs associated with the EIS studies, "quality" is a major factor which should be considered. All of the team members have previously or are presently participating in the direct review of EIS reports submitted for a wide variety of projects. This practical experience greatly enhanced the team members' abilityto produce information that regulatory agencies need to properly evaluate a project's impact on the environment.
Although costs in dollars are very important and represent a significant savings to
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ERDA as a result of these efforts, the timing factor is also extremely important. Because of the direct management process whereby the DNR team could be selected and deployed, and because of thei r fam iIiarity with Georgia, the studies were conducted as a concentrated effort in a short amount of time (2-3 months).
If ERDA were to select a consulting firm via existing government procurement channel~, the total process might take 12-15 months. The preparation of specifications for a Request for Proposal, publication in the Federal Register, receipt and evaluation of

proposals, negotiation of a contract with the selected consulting firm, could take up to six months to complete. Once the contract was negotiated and the consulting firm started the studies, 8-9 months would most likely be necessary to deliver the reports to ERDA.
The costs associated with conducting comparable studies by private consultants vary greatly and depend on the business aspects of negotiated contracts for each project. It is estimated a conservative total cost for both studies would be in the range of $150-$200,000 if conducted by a private consulting firm.

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SUMMARY OF COST SAVINGS

Type of Savings

Contributor

520-Acre Site Free for Future Location of SERI

The Shenandoah Development, Inc.

Construction of Complementary Laboratory

Regents, University System of Georgia

Land for Construction of SERl's First Office/ Laboratory at Future Site (if option exercised prior to Jan. 1, 1978)

The Shanandoah Development, Inc.

Option on Initial Office Facility

State of Georgia

Four Months Rent-Free on Initial Office Facility

Atlanta-Fulton Real Estate Holding Co. (building owner)

Free SERI Display or Exhibit Space

Atlanta-Fu Iton Real Estate Holding Co.

Location of SERI Signs on Turban of 20-Story Tower

Atlanta-Fulton Real Estate Holding Co.

Environmental Impacts Studies

State Department of Natu ral Resou rces

Total Savings $4,000,000
2,500,000 1,500,000
180,000 189,000
25,000 80,000 (a year) 150,000 to 200,000

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t;l~ttl~GIA'S Sttl~AI~ 1~11~I~t;\T 1~I~SI~AI~t~H
National and International Leadership

During the past several years, the State of Georgia has been working diligently to provide leadership in the development and application of alternative energy systems. Solar energy is already a Georgia industry that has the potential for great economic and energy production importance.
Presently, there are numerous businesses, farms and homes which utilize solar energy for the major portion of their energy needs. With the State's recently enacted tax incentives for the manufacture and use of solar energy systems, it is expected that within a few years there will be thousands of solar energy installations in operation. Already in the Atlanta area alone some 20 firms are involved in the solar energy industry and approximately 60 solar energy systems are in operation.
As illustrated by the selected project and program descriptions that follow, the leadership of the State and its institutions of education, finance and industry are working together as an enthusiastic team to foster development of alternative energy resources on an ever shortening time scale.
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The proximity of a major university dealing extensively with solar energy research will be very important to the success of SERI. The location of SERI in Atlanta will provide such an institution - the Georgia Institute of Technology.
GEORGIA TECH HAS THE MOST EXTENSIVE AND VARIED SOLAR ENERGY RESEARCH PROGRAM OF ANY UNIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES.
Georgia Tech is engaged in a multimillion dollar solar energy research and demonstration program on an international scale which spans all aspects of solar energy from low temperature applications in agriculture through heating and cooling to industrial process heating and high temperature power generation.
More than 50 full-time researchers are involved in these programs and more than 20 different externally funded projects have been undertaken within the last three years. Several of these are funded by ERDA, but others are funded by such sources as the Electric Power Research Institute, National Science Foundation, NASA, the U.S. De-

partment of Agriculture, the Georgia Institute of Genetics and several foreign countries, among others.
Following is a capsule sketch of some of these projects:
CENTRAL STATION POWER GENERATION -Involved in this area of research are projects that include installation of a 400-kilowatt solar steam plant on campus, development and testing of a 5 MW thermal storage unit, and design of the U.S. solar thermal test facility.
The new 400-kilowatt solar steam plant, funded by ERDA, has objectives of transferring solar energy technology developed in Italy to the United States and of providing an important test facility in this country.
For about 15 years, Professor Giovanni Francia of the University of Genoa in Italy has been engaged in the development of solar powered steam generators. His current design has progressed through four generations of development, with various modifications incorporated into the receiver and

heliostat field. The new steam plant being erected on the Tech campus is about three times as large as the Genoa facility.
Acquisition of the Francia facility in the United States and careful study of Professor Francia's techniques are expected to yield substantial benefits to this country's solar thermal conversion program by broadening our knowledge and experience in this field.
SOLAR ENERGY STORAGE - Another program at Georgia Tech has a mission of solving a major drawback of solar energythe lack of an efficient storage system from which to draw energy during periods of no sunlight.
The program involves the preliminary design of a 10 megawatt-electrical pilot plant for generation of electrical power using solar energy. This project, whose goal is to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of generating electric power by solar thermal conversion, is funded through a $1,027,000 grant from ERDA. It is ajoint effort of Georgia Tech and the Martin Marietta Corporation.
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A pilot plant is now under construction at the Georgia Power Company's Plant Yates near Shenandoah. The experimental solar energy storage system at the plant will be the first designed to investigate the technology associated with the storage of solar energy.
The plant will store energy used to produce steam for a turbo-generator by using a molten inorganic salt mixture and a hydrocarbon oil to store heat at 570 degrees F.
AGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS - A major agricultural applications project is developing several types of low-cost, but effective, solar collectors for farming use.
In the area of agriculture, there are substantive energy req uirements, particu larly for drying. A variety of crops such as corn, soybeans, peanuts, tobacco, grapes, fru its, pecans and forage may be dried prior to conversion to commercially viable products.
While many crops have been field-dried for centuries, this process leaves the farmers' profits at the mercy of the elements of nature which range from destruction by rodents and mold to destruction by simply poor weather.
All of the above crops, except forage, are dried at low temperature, making solar energy an extremely attractive alternative to natural gas and propane.
HEATING AND COOLING FOR HOMES -A complete home heating and cooling system is being installed on the Georgia Tech campus, with one large heated and cooled building completed and another under construction. This project serves two purposes:
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It provides students, faculty, interested visiting professors, and the public an opportunity to see a complete, operating home solar heating and cooling system, with all the major components exposed for observation. Modifications of the system configuration and control logic can be easily made to permit testing and evaluations of a wide variety of different types of solar home heating and cooling systems.
Since each of the eight different types of solar collectors in the array are separately instrumented, the longterm average efficiency of each type of collector can be measured while the collectors are actually being used to provide cooling or heating in Atlanta. Thus, this versatile system will also be used as a test bed for solar collectors and other solar system components.
FACETED FIXED MIRROR CONCENTRATOR - A 540-foot prototype of a faceted fixed mirror concentrator was built at Georgia Tech in the summer of 1975 and is undergoing continuing testing and improvement.
Some important solar energy applications require higher temperature collection than is practical with flat plate collectors, so focusing collectors must be used. Since large concentrating surfaces are subject to high wind loadings, it is often advantageous to fix the reflecting surface in a stationary supporting structure and steer a much smaller heat exchanger so that it remains in the

FACETED FIXED MIRROR CONCENTRATOR ON TECH CAMPUS

focal region. Several fixed concentrator moving heat exchanger systems have been proposed using spherical and parabolic concentrators.
The faceted fixed mirror concentrator has no off-axis aberration and focuses sunlight sharply regardless of the incident light direction. It is composed of long-narrow flat reflecting elements arranged on a concave cylindrical surface, and the heat exchanger is supported on arms that pivot at the center of the reference cylinder.

Concentrators of this general type are useful for applications such as supplying air conditioning, process heat and electrical power. The prototype was built with a $280,000 grant from NSF and ERDA.
The collector heats air to 600 degrees F. with an efficiency of about 40 percent. A new evacuated heat exchanger (receiver) with thermanol as the heat transfer fluid is now being installed, and should increase the collector efficiency to 60 percent at 600 degrees F.

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HEATING AND COOLING OF BUILDINGS - Georgia Tech IS involved in two major building projects involving solar heating and cooling.
One project, the George A. Towns Elementary School in Atlanta, already is in operation. The school, an existing facility, is a one-story, 32,000 square-foot building serving about 500 students. It is expected that about 60 percent of the cooling and heating will be obtained from solar energy. This is presently the largest solar heating and cooling retrofit project in the world.

Georgia Tech is responsible for construction of a new solar heated and cooled 54,000 square-foot multi-purpose community center at Shenandoah. Funded by ERDA and scheduled to be completed in November 1976, this building will be the world's largest facility designed to utilize solar energy hardware. The solar energy system will provide over 90 percent of the total annual energy required for winter heating and at least 60 percent of the total annual energy required for summer cooling.

MODEL OF SHENANDOAH'S SOLAR COMMUNITY CENTER World's Largest Facility Designed To Utilize Solar Energy Hardware
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In addition, it will supply hot water for
a domestic use and for servicing nearby ice
rink. In the autumn and spring, heat from the solar collectors which is not needed for space heating, cooling or hot water, will be used to heat an adjacent swimming pool. The solar-powered community center will be withi n wal ki ng distance of the entrance to the proposed future SERI site. This project is being supported by a $730,000 grant from ERDA and was to be completed in the fall of 1976.

SOLAR ELECTRICAL GENERATION SYSTEM - Georgia Tech is a partner in a venture to develop a conceptual design for a solar electrical generation system using air, rather than steam, as the working fluid. Tech's area of responsibility is the application of ceramic materials technology to the design of an energy receiver employing ceramic-structured parts. The project is sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute.

SOLAR THERMAL TEST FACILITY - LARGEST IN NATION
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SOLAR THERMAL TEST FACILITY Georgia Tech also is lending expertise in the research underway at the 5 MW Solar Thermal Test Facility operated by Sandia Laboratories near Albuquerque, New Mexico, through ERDA funding. The purpose of the facility is to test experimental designs of solar receivers, heliostats (mirror assemblies), thermal storage systems and other high-temperature solar equipment. Tech was selected as a participant because of the broad base of experience acquired in its work at the U. S. Army White Sands Solar Furnace and the CNRS Solar Furnace in France.
Georgia Tech is also assisting the Electric Power Research Institute in defining the scope of testing services which they would

need to support their various solar energy programs, to define the facility and site requirements for performing these tests and to develop a conceptual design and cost analysis for the facility.
TECH'S INTERNATIONAL SOLAR RESEARCH-Besides the cooperative work with Italy previously discussed, Georgia Tech has been active with many other international solar research programs. Cooperative efforts are underway or proposed with 10 other countries, including France, Italy, Algeria, and Canada.
Tech has conducted materials research programs in collaboration with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France since 1972. CNRS owns and operates the 1,OOO-kilowatt Solar Fur-

FRENCH SOLAR FURNACE ONE OF TECH'S INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS 30

nace in Southern France, currently the world's largest high-temperature solar test facility.
Efforts have been proceeding for more than a year with the Brace Research Institute of McGill University in Canada. Among the areas where data exchange is taking place are solar cookers, solar ponds, and agricultural dryers. Plans are underway with Brace Institute for cooperative design of solarpowered pumping and irrigation facilities in Mexico, Senegal and Sri Lanka under the general sponsorship of the United States.
A program has been initiated with the ONRS (Organixme National de la Racherche Scientifique) of the Algerian Government for the implementation of a comprehensive energy research program in Algeria. This will consist of nuclear and solar energy research. At present, the Algerians have a 50-kilowatt parabolic furnace operating atop the mountain on which the City of Algiers is located.

The Algerians plan to build another large furnace in the Sahara of Southern Algeria.
Various heating and cooling of bUilding applications and agricultural process applications have been discussed and proposed with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Korea and the Philippines. It is expected that two to three of these agreements will be negotiated and operative by the end of calendar year 1976.
The University of Georgia, located in Athens, Georgia, through its Schools of Forest Resources and Agriculture, is involved in energy related research. Projects range from research on photosynthesis to renewable energy resources such as vegetative materials.
The University has been the recipient of numerous federal grants, including a $200,000 ERDA contract for research on "energy plantations," where plants are converted by various methods into clean fuels.

31

WI~ 1.4 AI 'I~A

A Bold City of Tomorrow For Today

Atlanta has been described as "a city that offers something for everyone." It is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the United States with 1.8 million people within the Atlanta Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. Yet it has a broader range of attractions than some larger cities because it is the communications, financial, transportation, educational, cultural, and governmental center of the entire Southeast.
As one of 10 standard Federal Regional Centers, Atlanta has offices of virtually every federal agency. TheAtlanta Federal Regional Council is recognized as one of the most active and progressive in the ten Federal Regions.
It is a city with cosmopolitan interests. Yet visitors are surprised at the friendliness of the people and the casualness of their pace. Though highly urbanized near its core, Atlanta's extensive interstate network and the absence of natural barriers has encouraged even population growth in all directions. It is a city that provides urban, surburban and country living within easy driving distance regardless of where you work.
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It is a religious-oriented city. Yet, its entertainment and cultural life thrives because of the city's ranking as the third busiest convention center in the Nation.
It is a city very active in individual sports participation because of an excellent yearround climate. Yet, it is a spectator city as well, with teams in the highest professional leagues of baseball, football, basketball and hockey.
It is a landlocked city. Yet, on a per capita basis, its residents own more boats than any city in the world. This is because of so many large lakes within a short drive, including the most visited Corps of Engineers lake in the entire Nation.
It is a city that considers itself lucky to have a couple of inches of snow each year. Yet, it is only an afternoon's drive from thriving ski resorts in the mountains of Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. The Atlanta Ski Club is one of the largest and most active in the Nation.
In short, Atlanta can provide the support services required by SERI and the amenities

to satisfy its staff and employees. It is diverse enough to provide for any type of lifestyle desired.
Transportation
Atlanta's pre-eminence on a national and international scale is its air service. Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport is the second busiest airport in the world and the number one commuting point in the Nation's domestic air route pattern, with non-stop air service to 99 cities and direct through-plane service to an additional 39 cities. The accompanying map illustrates dramatically the scope of air service available from Atlanta.
As an example of the quality of service that might be sought by ERDA and SERI officials, there are 32 flights daily from Atlanta to Washington and 33 from Washington to Atlanta, at a cost of only $132 round-trip. Flight time between Atlanta and Washington is approximately one and one-half hours.
With respect to international travel, Atlanta already has direct flights to Acapulco and Mexico City, Montego Bay and San Juan,

and has excellent flight service to all gateway cities. In addition, the Civil Aeronautics Board has recommended that Delta Airlines be awarded direct airline service from Atlanta to London. There is no doubtthat other direct international flights will be awarded to Atlanta because of the city's growing international prominence and because of the many international meetings expected to be attracted to the World Congress Center opening in September, 1976.
The corporate headquarters of two carriers are located in Atlanta. The city is served by seven airlines and offices are maintained in Atlanta by 19 other carriers. In addition, 22 general aviation airports in Greater Atlanta supplement the facilities and operations of Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport.
Atlanta is the distribution center for much of the cargo that passes through two deepwater ports on Georgia's coast at Savannah and Brunswick. Savannah, served by more than 100 steamship lines, has the most modern port facilities on the South Atlantic coast with more than four million square feet of warehouse space and some $50 million in new construction underway.
33

"- "-

'- 'I,

---l

--NONSTOP - - -THROUGH-PLANE

to Acapulco and Me~ico City

10 Montego Bay \. to San Juan

CITIES WITH NONSTOP AND THROUGH-PLANE SERVICE TO AND FROM ATLANTA

Atlanta is one of five U. S. cities which serves as an interchange for three interstate highways, making it the Southeastern hub of a 41 ,OOO-mile interstate system. This system is complemented by a 63-mile perimeter highway, 1-285, which encircles Atlanta.
In addition, six U. S. highways flow through Atlanta, and the city is the Southern terminus for the Appalachian Highway, an interstate-standard highway which will eventually connect through the Appalachian Mountains to New York State.
Atlanta is served by two railroad systems (comprised of seven railroad companies), over 350 registered motor carriers and three buslines. Offline offices are maintained in Atlanta by 33 railroad and 19 steamship companies.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) provides one of the best bus services in the nation and now has under construction a $2 billion rapid rail system. Atlanta has gained international attention with a 15-cent bus fare, with operati ng expenses partially supplemented by a one-cent sales tax which also provides funds for construction of the rapid rail system.
An application was recently submitted to the U. S. Department of Transportation for two-thirds federal funding to build a $60 million aerial people mover in downtown Atlanta. The application was a joint effort of the State of Georgia, City of Atlanta and MARTA.
By its proximity to Atlanta, Shenandoah shares in all of the transportation services

34

WORLD CONGRESS CENTER (FOREGROUND) SITE OF INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS

that has helped to make Atlanta one of the Nation's leading transportation centers.
Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport is only 25 minutes from Shenandoah via Interstate 85. Besides the excellent passenger service already described, Shenandoah has access to the service of all air freight forwarders such as Federal Express and Emery that is available on a daily basis at the airport.
International Growth
The Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta is a $35 million international trade, consumershow, and convention facility. It features a 350,000 square foot exhibit hall, the largest on one level in the United States, and 22 meeting rooms, including a 2,000 seat auditorium with simultaneous translation equipment for multilingual presentations.

Atlanta is rapidly becoming an international city, with the location of eight career consulates and 22 honorary consulates. Over 20 international manufacturing firms are located in Georgia with investments of $150 million. Several international companies have established their American Headquarters in Georgia.
To encourage foreign exchange, the Georgia General Assembly authorized the establishment of the Atlanta Foreign Trade Zone to be located in Shenandoah's Industrial Park. The zone will encourage operations by foreign and domestic manufacturers that would otherwise have been conducted abroad.
Communications Resources
Telephone service is furnished in Atlanta by the Southern Bell Telephone and Tele-

35

graph Company, a part of the nationwide Bell System. Atlanta is one of the -ten U. S. regional switching centers, one of six television control centers, and one of the largest long distance switching centers in the world. SERI will be located in one of the larger toll-free calling areas in the Nation-some 1.35 million telephones in a 3,300 square mile calling area can be dialed without long distance charges. Also, Atlanta is one of the cities tied into Western Union's Westar satellite system.
Metropolitan Atlanta has seven daily newspapers, including The Atlanta Constitution and TheAtlanta Journal which have daily circulations of 214,300 and 259,300, respectively. The Sunday combined Journal-Constitution reaches 579,800 subscribers.
All major news services, trade publications, and international bureaus (such as Reuters) have news gathering offices in Atlanta. These include local offices of McGraw-Hili World News, Fairchild Publications, Business Week, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Newsweek, Time, U.S. News and World Report, Associated Press, and United Press International, as well as NBC, CBS, and ABC News.
A vital component of Atlanta's role as a major communications center is the quality of mail delivery. The Atlanta Post Office, composed of 35 stations and branches, processes about 7.5 million pieces of mail each day. With 336,000 daily deliveries, 95 percent of all mail bearing a 303xx zip code is delivered the next day. In the 11-State Southern Postal Region, the Atlanta Post Office ranks first in volume.
36

PEACHTREE CENTER SKYSCRAPERS Only Few Blocks from Round Tower

Education
Atlanta's leadership as a center of education is a cultural and economic asset of major proportion. Twenty-five degreegranting colleges and universities and four junior colleges offered some 230 programs of study to over 74,000 students in 1975. Twelve of the Atlanta area colleges and universities offer graduate degrees with 100 fields at the master's level and 60 at the doctorate. Together with the area's vocationaltechnical schools and dozens of private business and career schools, these institutions provide business and industry with a large and varied supply of skilled graduates. Additionally, extensive research and training services are provided for business and industry.
Of foremost consideration is the working arrangement that will exist between SERI and the Georgia Institute of Technology. SERI will initially be located only two blocks from the Georgia Tech campus and will be using a $2.5 million complementary laboratory to be built on the campus at no cost to SERI.
TECH STUDENT IN lABORATORY

SERI will also have access to Tech's computer system, a CDC CYBER 74/6400 consisting of interconnected scientific and business machines.
The Price Gilbert Library at Georgia Tech has holdings of over 840,000 volumes and 12,100 serials. It is also one of the most extensive depositories for federal scientific and technical information in the world. Access to the library will be arranged for the SERI staff, and other direct services of the library will be available as needed.
Besides Georgia Tech, higher education in Atlanta includes a major institution of medicine and a large downtown university offering undergraduate and graduate liberal arts and business degrees to both day and eveni ng students. There are several liberal arts residential colleges, a theological center and a seminary, a four-year fine arts college, a school of pharmacy, law schools and junior colleges. The University of Georgia is located in Athens, about 60 miles east of Atlanta.
Atlanta also qual ifies as a major center of vocational-technical training. Four public vocational-technical schools, operated in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Education, offer over 60 programs tuitionfree to Georgia residents. These, plus Atlanta's private trade schools and smaller public facilities, offer specialized training in such fields as air conditioning and refrigeration, drafting, auto mechanics, electronics technology, w~lding and medical assistance.
Public education in the five-county core of the metropolitan area is provided by nine public school systems with a combined en-
37

rollment of over 346,000 students. The systems total 348 elementary schools, 38 middle schools or junior high schools and 88 high schools. The metropolitan area has many other city and county public schools as well as private institutions.
Complementing Atlanta's schools and universities is its intellectual stimulation. A rich historical background is preserved by the Georgia Department of Archives and History and by the Atlanta Historical Society. The Fernbank Science Center in DeKalb County includes 70 acres of virgin forest, an electron microscope laboratory, an observatory, a major science reference library, a meteorological laboratory and a planetarium. An unusual resource available to the public is the Union Catalog of some 2 million cards which is a location tool for over 4 million books and serials in 36 libraries in the Atlanta-Athens area.

The Coweta County Board of Education operates 15 elementary schools and three high schools. Add itionally, Shenandoah is planning with the Board of Education for seven elementary schools and two juniorsenior high schools. A neighborhood elementary school will be within easy walking distance from all residences in each village in the new town.
Housing
Individual suburban communities have retained their identities, as have many of the downtown neighborhoods. SERI personnel will have a choice of urban, suburban or rural living in homes or apartments plus the added possibility of choosing among established smaller communities such as Newnan, Carrollton or Griffin and developing planned communities such as Shenandoah or Peachtree City. The perimeter highway

BENEATH TOWERING SKYSCRAPERS, ATLANTANS ENJOY LUNCH AT CENTRAL CITY PARK 38

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL

(1-285) allows easy commuting from an unusually large geographic area.
Suitable housing exists in Atlanta for both SERI's single employees and families. There are homes and apartments of many types and in varying price ranges. In the fivecounty core of the metropolitan area, an estimated 25,000 apartment units, 5,000 singlefamily residences, and 4,000 condominiums were available for sale or rent as of July 1, 1976.
Furthermore, housing units in Shenandoah will be suitable for a broad spectrum of economic, aesthetic and age perferences. Housing will vary from single-family homes to medium-rise apartments. In addition to convenience shopping facilities in each of its villages, the Town Center will feature a shopping mall with department stores and diverse entertainment facilities.

Medical Faoilities
Exte nsive med ical faci Iities make Atlanta a recognized major medical center. Some 80 nursing homes and related institutions are located in the Atlanta metropolitan area, with a nursing home capacity of 6,667 beds in 1975. Atlanta physicians were estimated to number 2,900 in 1974, and there were more than 800 dentists.
The Atlanta medical complex includes extensive research and educational facilities. The Emory University School of Medicine includes over 1,500 faculty members and 900 medical students, interns and residents. Also located in Atlanta are schools of dentistry, pharmacology, dental hygiene, hospital administration, medical technology, premedicine, physical therapy, nursing, public health, and med ical and dental assistance. Atlanta is also the national headquarters of

39

the Center for Disease Control of the U.S. Public Health Service.
In addition to the medical facilities available in Atlanta, Shenandoah is served directly by two accredited hospitals with 105 and 140 beds, offering a full range of medical, s'urgical, obstetrical, pediatric and emergency services.
Recreation and Sports
Atlanta has a topography well-suited for recreational purposes-a rolling terrain, lakes and streams, large areas of forest and parkland, and a moderate climate which permits year-round outdoor activity. Atlanta offers all forms of sports and outdoor recreation associated with a major metropolitan area: major league professional sports, parks, golf, tennis, bowling, rugby, polo, boating and sailing, camping and hiking, hunting and fishing and skiing.
Atlanta's position in major league sports began with the completion of Atlanta Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons (football) and the Atlanta Braves (baseball). The Omni, Atlanta's new $17 million arena, is the home of the Atlanta Hawks (basketball) and the Atlanta Flames (hockey).
Other spectator sports include collegiate athletic competitions; auto racing at the Atlanta International Raceway and Road Atlanta; golf tournaments, including the PGA Atlanta Golf Classic and the LPGA Lady Tara Open; several major tennis tournaments; an annual steeple-chase and hunter-jumper horse show; and professional motorcycle and motocross events.
40

The Atlanta area has outdoor recreational opportunities which are extensive in number and variety. Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona, two popular nearby weekend recreation areas, are within an hour's drive of the city. The Chattahoochee River is the western boundary of the City of Atlanta and provides opportunities for rafting, canoeing, fishing and camping. The River is the site of the annual Chattahoochee Raft Race, listed by Guinness as the largest sporting event in the world, with as many as 5,000 rafts running the 9.2 mile race as over 250,000 spectators look on.
Atlanta's climate permits at least 225 good golfing or tennis days every year. There are over 40 municipal, private or commercially operated courses. Atlanta was the host city of the 1976 U. S. Open. The Atlanta Parks and Recreation Department lists 150 tennis courts, including two municipal tennis centers that offer instruction for all ages, and there are numerous other double and private courts throughout the metropolitan area.
Atlanta residents are only a short drive from the North Georgia mountains and the beginning of the famous Appalachian Trail. The mountain-forest region of the lower Appalachians is excellent for mountain climbing, spelu n ki ng, wh ite-water canoeing, camping and hiking. This is complemented by the largest natural wilderness area in the eastern United States-the 34,000 acre Cohutta Wilderness Area also in North Georgia. Additional scenic camping is available in Georgia's State Parks. The 49 parks distributed throughout the state offer 3,000 campsites on 40,000 acres.

ATLANTA IS ONE OF FEW CITIES WITH FOUR MAJOR PRO SPORTS TEAMS
41

Over a dozen winter ski resorts dot the five-state region around Atlanta, including one in Georgia. On the other hand, the beaches of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are within a short drive of the city. Georgia's coast, lined with islands, offers popular beach resort areas.
Hunters and fishermen find Georgia rich in wildlife and all species of popular game fish. Almost one million acres of public hunting land are within easy access of the Atlanta area, and all of the popular major game fish in America thrive in the State.

Cultural Advantages
The Atlanta Memorial Arts Center offers a cosmopolitan exposure to the arts by combining facilities for drama, dance, symphony, a museum, and an art college in one $13 million complex. The High Museum of Art, housed in the Memorial Arts Center, hosts a permanent collection, special exhibitions, and a junior gallery for children. The Atlanta Civic Center attracts concerts, Broadway plays, and the Metropolitan Opera.
The Atlanta Arts Festival, held annually

TYPICAL RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE IN THE ATLANTA AREA 42

in Piedmont Park, is a community project which offers everything from co~petitiveexhibitions to dance, drama, and musical performances.
Music in Atlanta ranges from Robert Shaw's 89-piece Atlanta Symphony and the Atlanta Chamber Opera Society to over 24 community, church, and collegiate groups. The Atlanta Symphony has 250 annual concerts, including regular, touring, youth, seasonal, and family performances. Music lovers are further enriched by the Atlanta Music Club's offerings of various semi-classical concerts and the annual All-Star Concert Series.

ATLANTA MEMORIAL ARTS CENTER
The Alliance Theatre, also housed in the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center, has six productions annually. Theater of the Stars attracts Broadway talent with six winter plays and six summer musicals. Over the past five

ATLANTA BALLET IN PERFORMANCE
years, the Academy Theatre, an experimental dramatic company, has received substantial grants, as has the Atlanta Children's Theatre, which entertains more than 143,000 children through a touring program.
The Atlanta Ballet, the oldest civic ballet company in the nation, offers 30 major performances each season plus lecture/demonstrations in public schools. The Atlanta Concert and Contemporary Dance Group, the Southern Ballet of Atlanta, the Marietta Civic Ballet, and the Decatur-DeKalb Civic Ballet further complement the arts in Atlanta.
In addition to the Atlanta College of the Arts and the Academy Theatre School of Performing Arts, 12 Atlanta colleges and universities offer degrees in art, 11 in music, and five in drama.
43

"7I.I'

DATE DUE

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DE Me 0 38-297
Cost $3300.00 QuantitY 1000